F1 LIVE | Barcelona Pre-Season Test - Day 5
The final day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has arrived. Follow GPblog's liveblog to keep up to date with all the action right here!
F1 LIVE | Follow Day 5 of Barcelona Pre-Season Testing
LiveBlog
Russell and Mercedes set stunning benchmark at F1 2026 winter testing
After Kimi Antonelli unofficially topped the timing sheets after Thursday's morning session in Spain, teammate George Russell went one better.
The Brit was the first out of anyone to break through the one-minute-17-second barrier with a stunning time of 1.16.928, with no one else able to keep up with an impressive German team.
Russell and Antonelli completed 78 laps and 90 laps, respectively, while Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three with a 1.18.223 and 83 laps to his name. Oscar Piastri and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top five, while Lewis Hamilton took P6.
McLaren have some reliability trouble
For Oscar Piastri and McLaren, the only running they could do took place in the morning session, as an issue derailed their afternoon testing session.
A fuel system problem was the culprit for the British team, meaning their day was done and saw them miss out on valuable miles and data collection.
"We discovered a fuel system problem, and the car's very complex, so we've decided to bring it back into the garage, strip it down fully and understand where the problem is coming from," explained Mark Temple, McLaren's Technical Director, Performance.
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