F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton told not to overpromise as British legend shares testing disagreement

Lewis Hamilton has been advised not to overpromise or get ahead of himself at Ferrari following a positive start to pre-season testing this week.

The Scuderia were sending mixed messages regarding their Barcelona shakedown, with Charles Leclerc admitting on Thursday that he had 'no idea' where the new SF-26 stood in terms of their performance.

But Hamilton has been told by Sky F1's Craig Slater that he and team-mate Leclerc still have a lot of work to do before they can begin to feel comfortable among the competitive order.

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Martin Brundle 'not impressed' by F1 2026 testing decision

F1 legend Martin Brundle has admitted that he disagreed with the decision for the Barcelona pre-season testing to take place behind closed doors.

Neither fans nor media were allowed to attend this week's shakedown, and as the first round of testing drew to a close, Brundle admitted he felt frustrated that there were cars on track that he had not been granted permission to go and view!

On Sky's testing highlights earlier this week, the British pundit said: "Annoyingly, the cars are on the track and we’re not allowed to go and see them and I’m not very impressed by that."

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F1 Testing 2026 Results: Barcelona shakedown times as Hamilton steals Norris’ limelight

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton crept up on Lando Norris during the final day of the Barcelona shakedown, posting the fastest time on Friday in the final minutes of testing.

Norris had reportedly been leading the timesheet on Friday afternoon with the No.1 proudly displayed on his new MCL40, but the unofficial times were then updated in the final 15 minutes of the session to show that Hamilton had pipped him to the top of the table.

Due to the private nature of the pre-season test, no lap times are official, but Hamilton's Friday time of 1:16.348 is the fastest of all reported this week.

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Mercedes leave F1 testing EARLY after dominant display in Barcelona

Mercedes were not present at Friday's fifth and final testing day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this week having impressed early on.

Toto Wolff's driver duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli already completed their allotted three shakedown days on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, so were not needed at the track for the final day.

The Silver Arrows left a lasting impression on their rivals this week after the team showed almost no sign of reliability issues, completing over 400 laps in total.

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F1's new regulations will help Max Verstappen

2026 presents the stars of the F1 grid with the most comprehensive reset of regulations in the sport's modern history.

Max Verstappen may have lost out to the title in 2025 but the Dutchman has been tipped to roar back this year due to his impressive bandwidth shown across his career.

The drivers now have even more to think about when piloting their new machinery, and there is no man better at managing his car than Verstappen according to one pundit.

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