#F1 The very first photos of this first day on testing!!! 🔥🔥🔥
— Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (@Circuitcat_eng) January 26, 2026
📸 @F1 pic.twitter.com/7A6blwW19Z
Morning Standings:
- Hadjar (Red Bull) – 1:18.835 (44 laps)
- Antonelli (Mercedes) – 1:20.700 (55 laps)
- Colapinto (Alpine) – 1:21.348 (27 laps)
Isack Hadjar made an emphatic start to life in the senior Red Bull seat, setting the benchmark on a stop-start opening morning of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The young Frenchman, stepping into the RB22 for his first official outing as a full-time driver, wasted no time acclimatising to the radical 2026 technical regulations. Hadjar’s chart-topping time of 1:18.835 came during a flurry of late-morning performance runs, leaving the rest of the paddock playing catch-up.
Rookie Rivalry
The morning session offered a tantalising glimpse into F1’s new era, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli initially trading fastest sectors with Hadjar. However, the Italian teenager had to settle for second, finishing nearly two seconds adrift as Mercedes focused on high-fuel aero mapping for the bulk of the session.
Gremlins and Red Flags
It wasn’t plain sailing for everyone. The first morning of the new power unit era inevitably brought teething issues:
- Franco Colapinto triggered the first red flag when his Alpine ground to a halt at Turn 4 with a suspected sensor issue.
- The newly rebranded Audi project also faced a stuttering start; Gabriel Bortoleto managed only a handful of installation laps before a technical glitch confined the car to the garage for the remainder of the morning.
The Verdict
While testing times are notoriously difficult to read—especially with teams hiding their true pace under ‘sandbagging’ tactics—Red Bull’s reliability and Hadjar’s immediate comfort in the cockpit will surely raise eyebrows in the Ferrari and McLaren garages.
