A Formula 1 continued private testing at the Circuit de Barcelona this Tuesday (27/01), completing the second of the five days scheduled for the start of the 2026 season. As in the previous activity, a Red Bull appeared at the top of the table: Max Verstappen recorded the best time of the day, taking advantage of the short period of dry track before the arrival of the rain, with a time of 1min19s578.
Adverse weather conditions directly impacted the schedule, keeping most teams away. Only Red Bull and Ferrari chose to go to the track throughout the day. The second best time went to Charles Leclerc, who clocked 1min20s844 while still on dry asphalt, before giving up the car to Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon. The seven-time world champion, like Isack Hadjar – who replaced Verstappen at Red Bull in the final part of the session – only had contact with the wet track and ended the day just behind the Monegasque, in fourth place.
With lap times still unrepresentative in this initial phase of testing, the reliability of the cars was one of the main points of attention. Unlike Monday, marked by mechanical problems involving Audi, Alpine and Red Bull-Ford engines, Tuesday went without any major breakdowns. The only interruptions occurred due to red flags: Verstappen escaped into the gravel on one of the circuit sections, while Hadjar crashed at turn 14, without major consequences.
The schedule continues this Wednesday (28/01), with the third private testing session in Barcelona, again starting at 5am (Brasília time). Each team can choose three of the five available days to participate in the activities, which last eight hours per day. So far, only Williams has confirmed that it will not go to the track.
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F1: details of the second day of testing in Barcelona
The day started with several confirmed absences. Mercedes, who had been second fastest on Monday with George Russell, chose not to participate due to the forecast of rain. Alpine, Haas, Cadillac and Audi also opted to stay out, the latter still on alert after the breakdown suffered by Gabriel Bortoleto the day before.
On the other hand, Tuesday marked Ferrari’s debut in F1 2026 pre-season testing, as well as Verstappen’s first day in the activity. Interestingly, it was the Dutchman who caused the first red flag when he escaped in turn 5 and passed through the gravel.
Until the rain arrived, Verstappen and Leclerc were the only ones to ride on the Catalan circuit. The Ferrari driver performed an initial stint of 11 laps and recorded a best time of 1min20s8, according to unofficial data. Shortly afterwards, Verstappen took the lead with 1min20s0 and, before the track got wet for good, he improved his time even further to 1min19s578.
The predicted rain began to fall with greater intensity after about an hour and a half of activities. Even so, Red Bull and Ferrari still returned to the track with wet tires. According to information from the Italian press, Verstappen had already completed 25 laps, while Leclerc remained with 11 laps at that time.
Meanwhile, the other teams continued to evaluate whether it was worth facing the wet asphalt. McLaren, for example, chose to preserve the MCL40 and officially confirmed its absence on the second day of testing.
With the temporary lessening of the rain, Leclerc returned to the track using blue stripe tires and began to progressively lower his times, going from 1min46s to 1min37s501, before returning to the pits. Shortly afterwards, both he and Verstappen returned to the track, with Ferrari achieving times in the region of 1min32s.
After the lunch break, there was a change of drivers in both teams. Ferrari put Lewis Hamilton on the track for the first time in private testing, while Red Bull handed the car to Hadjar, the fastest from the previous day. The rain, however, intensified again, limiting any development in the weather.
Hadjar completed 22 laps and set 1min31s981 as the best time, while Hamilton completed 20 laps, with 1min33s455 as a reference. In the final minutes, a new red flag was called after Hadjar lost control of the car in the last corner and hit the protective barrier, without serious damage.
The session resumed with around ten minutes remaining, allowing Hamilton to complete a few more laps, prioritizing data collection.
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F1 tests in Barcelona: drivers’ times today – Tuesday (27/01)
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull Ford – 1:19.578
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – 1:20.800 (+1.222)
- Isack Hadjar – Red Bull Ford – 1:31.981 (+12.403)
- Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – 1:33.455 (+13.877)
F1: calendar until the first race of the year
- January 26th to 30th: Tests at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, carried out without the presence of the public and press.
- February 11th to 13th: First official test session in Bahrain.
- February 18th to 20th: Last stage of pre-season testing, again in Bahrain.
- March 6th to 8th: Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne.
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