F1 Testing 2026 results: Red Bull suffer Ford scare as Williams confirm test return

Vowles, Williams, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Testing 2026

F1 Testing 2026 results: Red Bull suffer Ford scare as Williams confirm test return

All the action from day three of the Barcelona shakedown

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 28 January 2026 18:02 Updated: 10:18

Day three of F1's private shakedown in Barcelona saw Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad suffer a scare and Williams announce their testing return.

After mixed conditions on Tuesday, the teams returned to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where McLaren and Lando Norris made their debut with the MCL40, offering a first look at the number 1 car in their interim livery.

On Wednesday, Norris completed 77 laps in his McLaren with a quickest effort of 1:18.307. Oscar Piastri sat on the sidelines on day three and will test for McLaren on day four (Thursday, 28 January).

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Meanwhile, after covering 192 laps between Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen, Red Bull decided to opt out of day three of the test, and will focus on fixing Hadjar's car after a crash at the end of Tuesday's running.

George Russell returned to the Mercedes in the morning on Wednesday, and team-mate Kimi Antonelli took over in the afternoon, eclipsing his team-mate's time with a 1:17.362. As it stands, this is the quickest time of the week, although all lap times are unofficial. On day three alone, Mercedes produced 130 laps across both of their cars.

F1 testing fun for some, not for others

Elsewhere on track in the afternoon, the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad caused a red flag in what has been described as a 'minor mechanical issue' after stopping. This issue has not been confirmed by the team, and we are unaware if it is related to the new power units. Despite the red flag, Lindblad is believed to have racked up 119 laps of mileage.

Haas also encountered problems, with Ollie Bearman stopping early on. Team principal Ayao Komatsu, said: "Unfortunately we had this reliability issue. Nothing we cannot fix bit that obviously cost us a lot of track time so we couldn't get anywhere near as much running as we wanted to do."

In an eventful day, Audi also encountered issues when Hulkenberg on Wednesday morning stopped on track on the straight between Turns 9 and 10. His car was seen being removed from the track by the stewards and the reason for the stoppage has not been confirmed.

Positive news also emerged from the Williams camp, with team principal James Vowles confirming they will return for the first test in Bahrain (February 11-13).

He said in a video for social media: "We are ready to run in the official test in Bahrain and we'll carry out a promotional filming day ahead of it.

"In the meantime, we're carrying out an alternative test programme here in the UK, including what we call a VTT, a virtual track test. The car's on there now, it's been there a few days and it will be on there for a few more days.

"It's a physical car. The real car, the engine, the gearbox are all bolted to it and it's put through its paces on a rig and provides valuable engineering data. The car is there as we speak and will continue running tomorrow.

"We cannot wait to get on track. There's a lot to look forward to in 2026."

What is a shakedown?

A shakedown refers to the first time teams can properly run their cars on track, like a pre-season health check.

Teams get the chance to test out all of the new design features on their new cars without limitations, with no maximum limit put on the number of laps they are allowed to do each day.

The private shakedown means the press do not have access, and only a small crew are admitted to film content for teams and drivers.

Nevertheless, Sky Sports F1 will be on hand to guide viewers through the Barcelona shakedown, with a testing highlights show broadcast at 9pm (GMT) every night of the week of the test. The show will then be available on Sky F1's official YouTube channel.

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

View full biography

Williams pre-season testing Racing Bulls James Vowles Barcelona