F1 Barcelona pre-season testing live commentary and updates - day 2
F1 2026 starts here! Follow along for updates as they unfold from Barcelona
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Here's also some eye candy for any Isack Hadjar fans.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
"Are Ferrari and Red Bull stealing a march on the other teams in terms of preparation for wet races this year?" jeffianohara asks.
Every little helps, but today's running is unlikely to make a significant difference compared to the other nine teams. It's still very early days – especially for Ferrari, who didn't test yesterday.
Earlier, we asked you for your most striking memory of F1 at Barcelona.
Here's kainadas with a pretty good shout: "There can be only one abiding memory from Barcelona... Schumacher's 1996 rain masterclass. It was as if an alien was driving the car, going 4 seconds per lap faster than all the rest... The single most awesome display of driving skill and domination I have ever witnessed."
Michael Schumacher beat Jean Alesi to victory by 45 seconds that year, in the unfancied Ferrari F310. Williams dominated that season, yet rookie Jacques Villeneuve finished just third on that day.
Winner Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, Jacques Villeneuve, Williams
Photo by: Sutton Images
If you're unsure how F1 2026's active aero works, this video is all you need to watch!
Meanwhile, Alpine has shared a video of Colapinto's first day in the car yesterday.
Check it out below!
As far as Barcelona memories are concerned, Mike Allchin brought up this fantastic wheel-to-wheel action between Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna, when the circuit first hosted F1 back in 1991.
Mansell won the race, with Alain Prost and Riccardo Patrese joining him on the podium.
Nigel Mansell, Williams FW14 Renault, Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4-6 Honda
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Thanks Ben - Ed here to take you through for the rest of the day! In terms of Barcelona memories, Vertappen's barnstorming entrance to life as a Red Bull F1 driver obviously stands out - but that's already been picked.
So let's go for 2013, otherwise known as Fernando Alonso's last victory in the championship
Race winner Fernando Alonso, Ferrari celebrates
Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images
But like before, please do continue with the questions and we'll do our best to answer!
Here's a question for you, the reader, though: which F1 driver do you think scores the highest on a Scrabble board? Surnames only...
According to SoyMotor, Verstappen and Leclerc are the only drivers on track having run in both the wet and dry conditions.
The Red Bull world champion has the best lap time in the dry, 1m19.578s compared to the Ferrari's 1m20.844s, but it is Leclerc who holds the advantage in the wet: 1m32.088s over a 1m38.254s.
Leclerc has completed 64 laps, as opposed to 'just' 27 for Verstappen.
'Benjamintgreig' with a great shout on F1 driver Scrabble: Giovinazzi scores 32 points on the board - one feels as though that would be hard to beat...
The rain has presented a difficult dilemma for some teams today, with Ferrari and Red Bull so far the only squads to have run.
It is now understood, via Sky, that McLaren will not be running its MCL40 despite an initial plan to start on the Tuesday.
McLaren MCL40 livery
'Silverstone Guy' with the question of how they monitor the non-activation zones with the active aerodynamics.
It is understood that these zones will be shared with the teams at least four weeks before the race weekend. At the track, there are activation beacons which emit a signal once a car runs past it.
The signal is given to the ECU, allowing for it to open, and then there's a beacon later which effectively reverses that signal. The whole thing will also just shut off under braking and the race director also has the power to disable, or partially disable, the whole thing - ie, in poor conditions.
'Jimbob043' puts forward that Pastor Maldonado victory from 2012. Crazy to think that that was already 14 years ago and is the most recent victory for Williams - just when will the next one come?
Race winner Pastor Maldonado, Williams F1 Team, celebrates on the podium
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
SoyMotor now claiming that Lewis Hamilton has jumped in Charles Leclerc's place.
Remember, the seven-time world champion will have a new race engineer in 2026 and Sky Italia is reporting that his team-mate's engineer, Bryan Bozzi, is working with Hamilton this afternoon.
Given we have limited images from the Barcelona shakedown, here is a picture of the Ferrari drivers at Fiorano last week
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Federico Basile | AG Photo
Some Scrabble shouts from 'Caseyjennett1867': Trintignant and Jabouille both score 12, Villeneuve takes home 15, while Regazzoni is a huge one with 28!
I feared Giovinazzi would never be beaten in the Scrabble game, but he has been! Kozarowitzky with a whopping 44 points - what a great shout that was.
However, he only entered two grands prix - Sweden and Britain in 1977 - and failed to qualify for either, so should we count him?
Going back to a question from earlier about the ICE and its performance in qualifying. Qualifying is when parc ferme conditions start, so no changes can be made until the end of the race.
'GSMKSP' has suggested Montoya for driver scrabble, but the seven-time grand prix winner only scores 12 points.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Photo by: Marco Canoniero / LightRocket via Getty Images
Just like at Ferrari, there has also been a driver change at Red Bull this afternoon with Hadjar replacing Verstappen inside the car, according to SoyMotor.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
'Indy-F1', no cheating, surnames only please. But Kovalainen is still a decent shout nonetheless, as his name scores 17 points in Scrabble.
Podium: Race winner Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
Photo by: Sutton Images
'Jordan' - the DRS replacement is 'Attack Mode', which is essentially a push-to-pass mode that keeps a car at the maximum 350kw for longer. It can only be used when within one second of the car in front during the race.
The active aerodynamics, ie the front and rear wings opening, are only available in designated sections.
'GN29' - the active aerodynamics will be designed to withstand the load from kerbs and bumps etc, but in terms of their robustness, it really is a case of finding out once the racing begins.
40 days until the Melbourne opener...
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Erick W. Rasco / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
'Banzai Kobayashi' - the FIA will share the activation zones with teams approximately four weeks before the race weekend. So it will not be known until then and the start of each will be marked in a similar way to DRS.
Keep it up with the Scrabble suggestions by the way! The latest one is 'RS97F1' with Mazzacane, who scores 31 points.
Gaston Mazzacane, Prost AP04
Photo by: Clive Rose / Getty Images
'Dbfinch' has caught us out on a technicality. But let's bend the rules a little and say you can just for the sake of fun!
Because Scrabble IS fun 'jvb123'...
But back to the track for a moment, because there is actually some action going on in Barcelona, and F1 has released a video of the Ferrari from today.
As you can see, it's been interchangeable conditions in today's shakedown.
Not only is there a video, but Leclerc has been speaking to F1 TV - here is what he has had to say:
"I'm very excited. I'm very excited to see what the others have in store and when we start pushing a little bit more, see where we are compared to the others.
"I think this year is a big opportunity for every team to do something different and to maybe gain bigger advantage than what we've seen in the last few years.
"I hope we are the team that will manage to make the difference. But wherever we start, we will push at the maximum to try and bring Ferrari back to the top. It's been quite a few years, so I hope that this one is ours."
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Any further Barcelona memories from people? Another one which has popped into mind is pre-season testing from 2020 when Mercedes introduced Dual-Axis Steering to the world...
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W11
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
'Robinbartholomew' - Feel like we'd be insulting our colleague Jake Boxall-Legge by not allowing a double-barrel.
Campbell-Jones, the man who started the 1962 Belgian GP and 1963 British GP, would score 28 points - a solid shout!
This afternoon has seen Hamilton jump in the Ferrari, likewise Hadjar and the Red Bull.
Hadjar has so far done a best time of 1m31.981s, compared to 1m33.455s for Hamilton, according to SoyMotor.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
'CircuitCaptain' - the man who scored a point for Minardi at the 2004 US Grand Prix, Baumgartner, takes home 16 points in Scrabble.
And yes, that is current Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies on the left...
Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi with Laurent Mekies Minardi Race Engineer
Photo by: Sutton Images
Today's shakedown has seen fewer teams out on track, partly down to the interchangeable conditions.
'Milesofborg' has asked if it would still be sensible to complete some wet running, but the problem is that the aerodynamic data gathered just isn't very representative when it is wet.
The chance of going off in the wet is also higher and teams are probably lighter on spares. This is something Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley, whose team had planned to run today, alluded to in his interview yesterday with F1 TV, when asked about the wet forecast for Tuesday:
"I think it's interesting because you talk about the run plan and all the teams are facing the same decision. Firstly have you got the right spare parts to be able to support running, then what's the weather condition like, and I've been talking to other team principals, nobody wants to let a cat out of the bag.
"I don't either, but it's been very interesting that you have this strategy to make every day about when you run."
Back to Scrabble and a decent shout from 'fbelorg_90' with Karthikeyan, who scores 25.
Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 TEAM with the HRT F112
Photo by: HRT F1 Team
Mercedes unique 2026 F1 front wing design revealed in Barcelona test
The W17 not only features a different mounting location for the front wing, creating a channel under the nose, it has just one moveable flap on each side – a completely different interpretation of the new rules compared with other teams
Spanish outlet SoyMotor is now reporting that Hadjar has completed 42 laps this afternoon, compared to 38 for Hamilton.
Just those two out on track at the moment, as some teams opted against running today due to the mixed weather conditions.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Back to the Barcelona memories and who can recall 2018 when snow hampered day three of pre-season testing?
The start of the session was delayed by over three hours due to overnight snow, before the track opened at midday. In total, only five cars eventually went out and Alonso, then in a McLaren, completed the most laps with 11.
Snow stops testing
Photo by: Sutton Images
Turns out today is also being disrupted - though not for snow - with it reported that Hadjar has brought out a red flag.
'Vincent Thiriaux' has suggested Ratzenberger for Scrabble and the Austrian would score 24 points on the board. A solid return.
While we've been discussing our memories of Barcelona today, we would love to hear your thoughts on Madrid joining the F1 calendar this year.
Are you excited for it? Are you glad that the capital city will now host the Spanish GP? What are your thoughts on Spain now having two grands prix, given Barcelona will stick around?
IFEMA Madrid
Photo by: Formula 1
By: Autosport Staff
