F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton is back in P1 as Ferrari team-mate rings alarm bells

Hamilton smirking as Leclerc looks annoyed in the background on F1 grid — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News Today

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton is back in P1 as Ferrari team-mate rings alarm bells

Catch up on all the latest F1 news after the final day of the Barcelona shakedown

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 1 February 2026 12:45

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton put in the fastest time of the week after the final day of the F1 2026 Barcelona shakedown with Ferrari.

Hamilton posted what is believed to have been the fastest time on Friday in the final minutes of testing, toppling Lando Norris off the top of the timesheets.

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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F1 star becomes part-owner of Red Bull motorsport team

F1 driver Pierre Gasly is set to become a part-owner of a Red Bull-backed team in a different racing series.

Gasly previously raced for Red Bull in 2019, but failed to pick up a single podium finish and was demoted back down to their sister team - then Toro Rosso - where he stayed up until the end of 2022.

The 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner then opted to join Alpine, where he has since established himself as the team leader and number one driver alongside Franco Colapinto.

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Ferrari have a HUGE question mark as Leclerc admits the brutal truth

F1 star Charles Leclerc has admitted he has no idea where Ferrari sit compared to the rest of the teams after the Barcelona shakedown.

Hamilton's team-mate told media that in terms of pace, there was a 'huge question mark' surrounding the Scuderia, ringing potential alarm bells for the upcoming 2026 season.

Is this an issue for Leclerc and Hamilton? Not necessarily – anyone in the paddock will freely admit they have no idea where the chips will fall this year, with sweeping regulation changes throwing the sport's order into chaos. After the first round of pre-season testing, at least the Ferrari looks reliable!

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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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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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Lewis Hamilton advised ‘not to get ahead of himself’ at Ferrari

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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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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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc F1 News Today Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya