Pirelli F1 test 2026: Ferrari and McLaren on track

The tests at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit involving Scuderia Ferrari HP and McLaren F1 Racing have come to an end. The same three drivers were working with the Pirelli engineers  on development of the 2026 tyres, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton sharing a Ferrari SF-24, while Oscar Piastri was at the wheel of a McLaren MCL60. Both cars had been adapted to suit the prototype tyres designed around the new technical regulations that will come into force next year, being narrower than the current ones by 25 millimetres at the front and 30 at the rear.

A total of 300 laps was completed, 74 by the Monegasque driver, 74 for his British team-mate and 152 for the Australian. Here are the fastest recorded lap times, although they have no real significance given the different work programmes carried out for Pirelli by the two teams: 1'14''971 for Leclerc, 1'16''759 for Hamilton and 1'15''815 for Piastri.

“It was a very useful session, particularly when it came to providing a comparison between the various different constructions for next season, as well as experimenting with some compounds from the harder end of the range,” commented Pirelli Motorsport Director, Mario Isola. “The Barcelona circuit is known as one of the most demanding for the tyres in terms of the energy exerted and degradation, therefore the information we have gathered over these two busy days will be very important for the future development of this generation of tyres. It's a really demanding start to the year with four test sessions even before the season begins and I want to thank all the teams that are working with us, because we know how busy they are at the moment.”

After testing at Paul Ricard and Barcelona, the Pirelli engineering team will soon be heading further south, for two days of testing at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit, in Andalusia on 13 and 14 February. Alpine will be taking part on both days, while McLaren and Mercedes will do one day each. The final pre-season test will take place at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit on 2 and 3 March with Alpine and Williams running both days. This same venue will then host the only three day test when all teams will run their 2025 cars prior to the opening round, the Australian Grand Prix.