F1 fans 'threatened with fines'

F1 fans 'threatened with fines'

F1 are working hard to keep pre-season testing private

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 29 January 2026 20:58

F1 fans are reportedly being 'threatened with fines', after trying to catch a glimpse of the private shakedown in Barcelona.

The first pre-season testing event is ongoing behind closed doors this week, with no TV cameras or media personnel allowed in.

F1 had provided data feeds in the early part of the week to allow lap times to be seen, but they cut these on Monday afternoon, and all of the reported lap times have come from team sources in the last few days.

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The remaining teams have five days of running to choose from, but they are only permitted to test on a total of three of those days, with Friday marking the final opportunity to test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Monday provided the most ideal weather conditions for testing so far and also for hopeful fans and journalists heading to the circuit in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the private shakedown.

But the Telegraph have claimed these attendees were unsuccessful in trying to watch testing, with a recent report stating: "Fans and journalists who went on Monday to try to catch a glimpse from outside the track were 'moved on', and in some cases threatened with fines for trying to observe the action, even from public areas."

Fans and media shut out from Barcelona testing

Noble and other journalists who made the trip to Barcelona were reportedly told, 'any place they could see the track with their own eyes was off limits and banned', with a security car arriving to move them on after the group gathered on a hilltop far outside of the circuit grounds.

The Race said: "The rationale given was essentially that any view of the circuit, even on public land, is owned by the circuit."

Spanish journalist and social media user Nachez98 said that 1 has 'lost its mind' after his experience in Barcelona this week, taking to 'X' to report: "This morning we were 200 meters from the circuit. They kicked us out and we moved to 300 metres, outside the parking. They kicked us out. We set up at 600 metres and they still kicked us out too. Two secret service cars, one Mossos pickup and a Mossos van [the Mossos d’Esquadra are the autonomous police force of Catalonia]. They ID’d some poor lambs who had just arrived and warned them that if they came back it would mean a fine."

pre-season testing Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya