Journalists reported that Isack Hadjar posted the fastest time in the morning session at the Barcelona shakedown test before F1 cut the data stream.
Today marks the first day of the Barcelona Shakedown testing week for F1 teams as they put their brand new 2026-reg cars through the paces.
During the week, ten teams (Williams are not taking part in the test) will test their 2026 challengers for the first time on track across three days, with five days in total available to choose from.
READ MORE: Williams set to miss Barcelona shakedown as they chase “maximum performance”
Red Bull, Racing Bulls, Mercedes, Audi, Cadillac, Haas, and Alpine all participated in the first day of the shakedown test, as F1 and the teams confirmed.
The Barcelona test remains private, with no broadcast, live updates, or media reporting except for what the teams and F1’s own media team choose to reveal.
Teams can share only a limited number of photographs/videos each day.
Before 2019, this method of testing was standard, as testing was first broadcast for the full 8 hours of the usual three-day pre-season tests that year.
Since then, testing has aired at both Barcelona and Bahrain before each season.
Teams only conduct private tests without broadcasts at selected circuits within their FIA-allocated testing time.
This year, Barcelona’s shakedown followed private testing rules as it served as an additional pre-season test to the usual Bahrain pre-season tests held in March before the opening race.
However, journalists noticed that live timing data still broadcast during the morning session, providing insight into the first ventures of the 2026 cars.
Alpine, Racing Bulls, and Audi reportedly triggered flags due to sudden stops, though the reasons remain unknown. These could have been planned or related to any number of systems, not necessarily PU-related.
Hadjar reportedly posted the fastest time of the morning session, two seconds ahead of the nearest car, which was Antonelli, who didn’t run in the late morning after posting his fastest time earlier.
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F1 then cut the live timing before the afternoon session started, so no further updates can be given.
The Race have since reported that all areas outside the track where the public could view the track have been blocked off by security, and anyone attempting to stay in the area has to move.
Some fans on X have been outraged by this decision, as they don’t understand why F1 is seemingly going backwards in terms of accessibility and coverage of the sport.
One user on X considered the decision to be counterintuitive to F1 goals of growing interest in the sport, particuarly on the dawn of new regulations that many fans are unsure of.
Ultimately, we don’t know why F1 chose to make the test private, but it may very well have been at the behest of the teams, who are only now understanding the reality of their 2026 cars (an understandable request).
The cars at Barcelona are unlikely to be the ones at Bahrain, and with the various testing protocols across all the teams, the data the test provides for fans ultimately means nothing.
All that could happen is fear-mongering and misinformation, which could do more harm than good to F1’s ever-growing audience.
Equally, it actually makes more sense to keep the test private for F1’s audience and market growth goals as more people will be willing to watch the opening round live, even with the odd hours for the Northern hemisphere due to it being in Australia, when it comes with the chance to see brand new F1 cars on track for the first time.
With so much about the cars for the audience still unknown, anticipation and curiosity will be higher than ever. It is understandable that the FIA and F1 would keep this test private.
And if things do go wrong, it is much better for the teams, F1 and the sport for it to happen privately.
The Bahrain pre-season testing will still be broadcast (though only the final hour each day instead of all eight hours), so we aren’t losing anything, and in fact may be gaining, as the teams will have much stronger grips on their cars come Bahrain.
Vladimir Rys / Red Bull Content Pool
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