F1 Barcelona pre-season testing live commentary - day 5
Barcelona's F1 shakedown test is onto its final day. Follow along for updates as they happen.
Live Text
Hamilton fastest lap
Looks like it was a glory run for Ferrari, as Lewis Hamilton has just set the fastest lap of this week's test with a 1m16.348s!
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Glory run?
'Glory run' is a term we've heard a lot in previous pre-season tests, where at the end of one a team may fit on a pair of soft tyres, ramp up its engine mode and go for the fastest lap - mainly for a morale booster.
It was unknown if we would see them this week given it is only a shakedown, but it's understood that Ferrari and Red Bull have both fitted the soft rubber.
Question from 'benh_5': "Is that Audi livery the actual race livery?"
Yes!
Nico Hulkenberg, Audi F1 Team
Photo by: Audi
There's been a few shouts for Caterham's 2014 entrant as the worst looking F1 livery. And one has to say, fair enough - where to even begin?
Marcus Ericsson, Caterham F1 Team
Photo by: XPB Images
'Matias Saucedo' suggesting Alpine to score multiple podiums this season. Not sure about that, but don't be surprised to see that squad much improved in 2026.
If 2022 proved anything, it's that the Enstone squad is capable of starting a regulation change strongly, it's just if it is able to develop the car properly throughout.
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Now let's hear from Charles Leclerc: "I think there's a lot of excitement, not only in Ferrari but I think around the whole paddock.
"It's an exciting time for Formula 1 where there's so much change that we've got to adapt as drivers, we've got to adapt as teams and try and find ways to maximise what is now our new package and especially with this energy management that is so much more important compared to the past.
"So yeah, excitement but apart from that not so much more, I mean it's still very very early days so yeah, just really looking forward to see what we'll learn in Bahrain and just focus on ourselves for now."
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Formula 1
A fuel system issue ended McLaren's day early on Thursday, but Oscar Piastri is certainly more upbeat after today's running:
He told F1 TV: "It was good. Nice to get some good laps on the board this morning, much smoother day than the first two we've had, so that was nice.
"I feel like I got into a pretty good rhythm and was able to start to feel what the car's actually like, which was nice. Tried a few things already to see how we can improve it and stuff like that.
"But yeah, just running it in different configurations and kind of different settings and stuff like that to see what it's like for race weekend. So all in all, I think it was a pretty successful morning."
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: McLaren
'MonzaGorilla' suggests the Renault from 2009 is the worst looking livery. I do not approve.
Fernando Alonso, Renault
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
According to our Spanish colleagues at SoyMotor, Norris has just set a 1m16.594s which is just over a tenth off this week's best time which was done by Russell.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL40
Photo by: McLaren
And that has just got me on a rabbit hole looking at the 2020 campaign. Yes, the title was a foregone conclusion, but some of the podiums were completely random:
Sakhir GP - Perez, Ocon, Stroll
Italian GP - Gasly, Sainz, Stroll
What could be the wildest, but realistic, podium in 2026?
Carlos Sainz Jr., McLaren, 2nd position, Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, 1st position, and Lance Stroll, Racing Point, 3rd position, on the podium
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The Lance Stroll rebirth?
Quite a few are bigging up Aston in their 2026 predictions. The latest one: Lance Stroll to claim multiple podiums!
He last stood on the steps at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, which was his third F1 podium.
Esteban Ocon, Renault F1, 2nd position, Sergio Perez, Racing Point, 1st position, Lance Stroll, Racing Point, 3rd position, and Andy Stevenson, Sporting Director, Racing Point, on the podium
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Jack Aitken the F1 driver?
We've had another prediction, this one perhaps more on the wild side: Valtteri Bottas will retire with one-time grand prix starter Jack Aitken replacing him at Cadillac...not so sure about that one!
Race winner Jack Aitken, Emil Frey Racing
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
McLaren's growth under Zak Brown
What always sticks to mind when I look at the McLarens from the mid-to-late 2010s is the lack of branding on the car.
The British outfit was just in a dire state at the time and, understandably, very few brands wanted to partner with it.
That is something Zak Brown wanted to change when he became CEO in 2018 and it's fair to say he did a pretty good job of it - just look at how many logos are on last year's McLaren.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
We've just had somebody suggest the 2017 McLaren as the worst looking F1 car. But I shall go one better and suggest the MCL32's predecessor - here's a side-by-side!
Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren MCL32
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MP4-31
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Really, Audi?
Speaking of Audi from the other post, one of my colleagues has put forward its inaugural F1 car as one of the worst looking liveries. I have to say, I am with him...
Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi
Photo by: Audi
Will Alonso's time come again?
'Deepakvalecha' saying Alonso will win a race this season. Coincidentally, his last victory actually came in Barcelona 13 years ago.
But what some may find astonishing is that even if Alonso were to win in 2026, at the age of 44/45, it would only put him around fourth or fifth on the all-time oldest grand prix victors list.
Luigi Fagioli holds the record after winning the 1951 French Grand Prix, aged 53y22d.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team
Photo by: Erik Junius
Shakedown week is now done for Audi youngster Bortoleto, who has offered a stark reminder that what happens in Barcelona, kind of stays in Barcelona because it's in unrepresentative conditions.
"I need to go back to the factory next week, doing a bit of correlation in the simulator, trying to understand what we need to improve in the car and in the simulator to make it more realistic.
"And then start working for there. Obviously, we have a lot of changes coming to Bahrain, new track, different weather as well.
"We are in a very cold place right now. So everything will change. And obviously, we hope that we improve a lot our car for the next test and we start working from there."
Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi
Photo by: Audi
Lap count
Going back to the actual track action for a moment: the key to this week's shakedown isn't lap time, but mileage. Teams are using it to dust off their power units and make sure it's reliable ahead of the new season, which'll introduce new regulations.
So let's look at the current lap total for each engine supplier this week, according to SoyMotor:
1. Mercedes - 963 laps
2. Ferrari - 815 laps
3. Red Bull Powertrains Ford - 575 laps
4. Audi - 161 laps
5. Honda - 54 laps
'Mood Mondo' claiming the Mercedes colour schemes "have always been very predictable and dull". But with all due respect, not sure what else the team is meant to go for, as you wouldn't exactly ask Real Madrid to not wear white...
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
F1 2026 predictions
We're at the end of this Barcelona shakedown now and after five days of running, surely that's enough to predict the 2026 season, right?
So let's hear it! Comment your predictions for the forthcoming campaign and you can be as bold/wild as you like...Yuki Tsunoda to make a bombshell return, anybody?
A browse online shows various publications claiming the Honda Earth Car from 2007 is up there as the worst looking livery in F1 history.
Is everybody going mad, or is it just myself who is? Young me loved that look...
Jenson Button, Honda RA107
Photo by: Motorsport Images
'Banzai Kobayashi' has described the 2012 HRT as the worst looking livery, and it's totally a fair shout. If a team is to finish last in the championship, at least do it while looking good, but no, there was nothing positive about the F112.
Pedro De La Rosa, HRT Formula 1 Team HRT F112
Photo by: Sutton Images
Yes, throwing back to my last stint on Live text, which was Tuesday afternoon, do feel free to comment any entries for F1 Driver Scrabble and I'll tell you how highly that name scores.
Currently top is Kozarowitzky, who entered two grands prix in 1977, with 44...
Thanks JBL!
It's "Wirral's own Ed Hardy" here (see an earlier post), though calling from my London flat - just to give you a hint as to where the Autosport office is...
Handover!
Since it's the lunchbreak, it seems like it's a good time to hand over to Ed Hardy, who's going to be finishing up our live feed for the week.
Thanks to everyone for the questions, it was a pleasure - Ed, over to you!
Aston's front wing
Victor N says "Interesting to note that the Aston also fixes the front wing to the middle plane like the Mercedes. That leaves only the rear flap for low drag activation."
It depends on how you distribute your front wing elements and how you operate that middle element. You can theoretically mount the nose to the middle element of the wing, but leave a split so that the centre section stays intact while the outboard sections move.
I also expect there to be some variation here. If you've got circuits with a lot of straights but also corners where the front-end downforce is needed, you'd load the front wing up with a bit more angle of attack/camber for those corners, but dump the drag for the straights with the active aero.
It'll be fun to see how this develops, and how teams find the best trade-off between the two wing modes allowed.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
Day 5: Morning session complete!
That's it for the morning part of Barcelona's final test day. Leclerc produced a 1m16.653s on soft tyres, per SoyMotor, to get closer to Russell's benchmark 1m16.4s from yesterday.
Bearman did indeed clear the 100-lap mark, doing 105 tours of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Leclerc and Piastri appear to have reached 79 laps each.
The Trussardi Middlebridge Benetton
After a quick dig into the archive, here's the snippet from the 17 September, 1987 edition of Autosport - showing the split livery of the planned Middlebridge entry for Pirro.
Piastri has a moment
Our spies in Barcelona have spotted a lock-up for Piastri at Turn 10 - given the circuit is quite cool, it's easy to do when there's not enough temperature in the tyres and/or brakes.
It appears that Bearman is fast approaching 100 laps for the moment, as Haas has found some good reliability after encountering a few issues on its second day or running.
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Haas F1 Team
On cjewell's question: "What about the Pirro Trussardi (sic) Benetton that was meant to run at Monza in 1987?"
That's a story that time has forgotten - Middlebridge Racing, the F3000 team that later took over the dying Brabham squad, tried to enter a Benetton B186 for Emanuele Pirro at the 1987 Italian Grand Prix, with a half-and-half black and white livery with Trussardi branding.
But this was vetoed by the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) on the basis that it was a customer chassis - in the 3 September 1987 edition of Autosport, it says that the engine had to be 'uniform' with other chassis makers of the time. Benetton's B187 was running with the Ford 1.5-litre V6 in 1987, while Middlebridge wanted to use the Megatron-prepared BMW.
Thus, it never went ahead.
Alonso on a long run
Our man Pol Hermoso has found a spot on 'the hill' again after being shuffled away by the 'seguridad' around the track, and has spotted Fernando Alonso on a long run at the wheel of the AMR26.
Others are doing likewise, pounding around the circuit doing their thing.
Since we've not really had many pictures from today so far, here's Perez in a Cadillac from yesterday. Bottas is in the car that currently doesn't have a chassis designation today.
Sergio Perez, Cadillac
Photo by: Cadillac Communications
Williams' livery misses
caseyjennett1867 says: "If we're talking bad liveries, surely the 2019 Williams (as driven by Russell & Kubica) has to be up there. Looking a bit further back, it would probably have to be the underfunded death trap that was the Andrea Moda. Honourable mention to the 1999 Williams, just terrible."
Oh yeah, that 2019 Williams was awful - like a 10-year-old using the soft brush in Photoshop for the first time. It was almost Rich Energy rather than ROKiT on that car - but William Storey reneged on a meeting with Claire Williams to do the Haas deal.
The Andrea Moda car itself was actually solid, it was a Simtek-designed machine initially planned for a BMW entry that never came to fruition. But when you give it to a team like that, of course it's going to be terrible - and giving Perry McCarthy the broken cast-offs used by Roberto Moreno rather demonstrated how little they cared.
And here's where I'm going to be unpopular: I like the 1999 Williams. The 1998 one was a bit rubbish, granted, but I like that they tried something with the FW21. But those who know me know that I'm permanently nostalgic for the '99 season.
Just terrible.
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Innovation chat: The Benetton B191 and Tyrrell 019
Lotus109 says "the raised nose and full-length front wing of the Benetton B191 set the pattern for F1 noses right up to the point when proper high noses were banned in 2014. I know most people credit Harvey Postlethwaite's Tyrrell but nobody else followed that layout with the anhedral junction and no central aerofoil, and even Tyrrell canned it after a couple of seasons. Whereas the Benetton genuinely demonstrated the benefits and within a few seasons, most of the grid was doing something similar."
Perfect opportunity to whip out some quotes from an interview I did with Jean-Claude Migeot on the subject - he was the aerodynamicist who tried the idea first, which became the Tyrrell 019 (my favourite car of all time).
"The idea came almost in the last test I did at Renault, back in '85. By cutting a big slice of the monocoque underneath and seeing some gains on a very bad wind tunnel, I put that in my memory," Migeot said.
"I had almost a year to put on the wind tunnel my high nose idea, but it was almost a miss because I mixed it with another couple of ideas on the model. That provoked a meeting with Ken saying 'listen, French boffin, I'm not paying you to do silly things, what is this thing I've seen in the workshop?' I said 'please be patient, we were going to test it next weekend'. We put the rear of the car on a better base and we had the front wing like the Benetton the year after, which was the simplest structurally.
"What we ended up with, the gull-wings, as it has been called, was an aesthetic choice - there was no advantage compared to two vertical pylons and no flap in the middle. But that was really the biggest jump I ever saw in the winter when we removed the central flap. We had a massive increase of downforce and I said, 'Oh, something must have broken on the wind tunnel. So, let's check everything.' And it was not bad. It was really very big improvement in the underfloor."
Sidenote: Jean-Claude is one of those people I love chatting with - you give him a question and the stories he tells (if you like technical things) are fascinating. Amusingly, he refers to Luca di Montezemolo as "Montezuma"...
Jean Alesi, Tyrrell 019 Ford
Photo by: Ercole Colombo
'Tis he, Leclerc
Reports are abound that Leclerc has set a 1m16.949s on mediums - half a second away from Russell's time yesterday on softs.
What we mustn't do is read too much into that - but what we can say is that Ferrari's early reliability looks encouraging. Nobody's really had a 2014-style disaster...yet.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Where are all the unraced cars?
bobroberts.westend asks: "I wonder what happened to all those "almost F1" cars like the Dome. Were they just scrapped? Did they end up at the back of a garage somewhere? Are they racing or hill climbing or sprinting somewhere?"
I believe the Dome is in a museum somewhere in Japan. Honda produced a series of unraced cars in the 1990s which it keeps in a museum - the RC100, RC101, and RC101B - at Motegi. These were all cars that Honda engineers produced to the then-current F1 regs as a bit of a side-project outside of work hours.
The RA099, which Honda had built with Dallara as a genuine precursor to a canned F1 entry (planned for 2000), is also at Honda's Motegi museum.
I also believe there's a Lola T97/30 (the failed Mastercard Lola car from 1997) at Mondello Park in Ireland, while DAMS still owns the boxy GD-01 that it had considered entering F1 with in the mid-90s.
Erik Comas, DAMS GD-01
Photo by: DAMS
Worst liveries?
Nik has also asked "So with a set of frankly uninspiring test liveries, where normally thats a chance for good PR for the teams, whats the WORST livery this century? Obviously the BAR Zipper has to be up there (was that 2000 onwards?)"
It was on the 1999 car - the plan had been to run with one car in a blue 555 livery and the other in the white/red Lucky Strike scheme. But the FIA decreed that both cars had to have the same livery, so they zipped it together in an act of...defiance would be the wrong word. Still, it's memorable - and a shame, as Ricardo Zonta's 555 livery was lovely.
The one I'm going to pick is quite a modern one, but one that summarised F1's pursuit of weight over any kind of aesthetic quality. It was genuinely infuriating when it was first unveiled...
...presenting the Alpine A524. Arguably, not even a livery.
Alpine A524
Photo by: Alpine
By: Autosport Staff
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