F1 Testing: Oscar Piastri's Running Limited by McLaren Technical Issue as Aston Martin Make First Appearance in Barcelona
A technical issue cut short McLaren's running on the penultimate day of Formula 1's first 2026 pre-season testing event, as rivals Mercedes and Ferrari delivered strong showings in Barcelona. Having made their first appearance of the week on Wednesday with Lando Norris' debut of the MCL40, it was Oscar Piastri's turn to drive for the constructors' champions on Thursday. However, the Australian's afternoon was cut short by a fuel systems issue, resulting in only 48 laps for McLaren, more than 100 fewer than Mercedes and Ferrari completed on a day when Aston Martin belatedly made their first appearance at the behind-closed-doors event. This event is crucial for teams to test their all-new cars for 2026 after the introduction of new power unit and chassis regulations.
Piastri expressed his disappointment, stating, 'Unfortunately, a few issues today. We had a fuel systems issue which cut our day a bit short, but I know the team is working really hard to get that fixed and get us back out for as many laps as we can tomorrow.'
Mercedes, on the other hand, continued their highly productive efforts, amassing an impressive lap count at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. With Kimi Antonelli and George Russell racking up a total of 167 laps, Mercedes' performance has been hugely impressive. Russell, in particular, showcased the car's potential with a 1:16.445 lap time, more than half a second ahead of his team-mate and almost two seconds ahead of any other car.
Ferrari also had a strong day of running with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, combining for 174 laps. Hamilton praised the team's progress, stating they were doing 'better' than last year's pre-season testing. The trio of title hopefuls were joined on track by Cadillac and Racing Bulls, with the latter becoming the only team other than Mercedes to use up their allotted running time ahead of the final day of the event.
Aston Martin, which had said it would miss the first three days and aim to make its track debut on Thursday, finally made its appearance with an hour of the day remaining. The AMR26 emerged from the garage, but a red flag was brought out in the closing moments due to a technical issue. Overcoming these overnight gremlins is crucial for Aston Martin to have a full day of running on Friday.
There is great intrigue around Aston Martin's first car, designed with the heavy influence of team principal Adrian Newey, whose legendary design skills helped Red Bull dominate the start of the previous rules era. With Williams missing the whole event due to car readiness issues, seven teams have completed two days of running and are expected to complete their allocation on Friday, while Aston Martin will hope for a full day on track.
Max Verstappen is among those expected to drive on Friday, with Red Bull having been absent for the last two days after Isack Hadjar crashed the RB22 in wet conditions on Tuesday. The 2026 Formula 1 season is set to begin with the Australian GP on March 6-8, and all 24 race weekends will be live on Sky Sports F1.
