How Isack Hadjar’s 2026 Barcelona shakedown time compares to Oscar Piastri’s 2025 pole lap

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The first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona has come to a close, and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar set the pace.

Red Bull, Racing Bulls, Audi, Mercedes, Cadillac, Alpine and Haas all took to the track at the Circuit de Catalunya on Monday. McLaren and Ferrari will not run until Tuesday, while Aston Martin are delayed until Thursday and Williams will not participate at all.

The first day saw minor delays with three red flags, with Franco Colapinto, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson all stopping on track. Thankfully, all three instances were not deemed serious.

The first lap times of 2026 have been completed 👏 what are your impressions from day one of testing?

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Hadjar was fastest in the morning session for Red Bull, clocking up significant mileage for the team and their in-house power unit. Come the end of the day, the Frenchman had set the most laps of any driver.

Red Bull tasked Hadjar with driving the RB22 alone on Monday, with Max Verstappen set to take the car at a later date. With a time of 1.18.159, he set the fastest time on day one, with Mercedes’ George Russell half a second behind.

Isack Hadjar fastest on day one of Barcelona shakedown, but was almost seven seconds off Oscar Piastri’s 2025 pole lap

Franco Colapinto was the third fastest on day one for Alpine, with Kimi Antonelli and Esteban Ocon completing the top five. Sergio Perez was at the bottom of the timesheets for Cadillac, almost eight seconds behind pacesetter Hadjar.

Now, of course, mileage and gathering data are the most important things to note from the first day in Barcelona, or throughout the whole test, for that matter. It is almost impossible to gauge a pecking order from this, especially when most teams would not have been pushing to the max.

Nevertheless, many people may be wondering how the 2026 car shapes up compared to the previous regulations. There were a lot of concerns, especially among the drivers, about the new cars being a backwards step in performance, mainly due to the battery and new power units.

F1 drivers were very critical of the 2026 cars after testing them in the simulator earlier in 2025. Many were worried that the cars would be much slower, and looking at the lap times, that would suggest to be the case.

Hadjar’s best time on day one in Barcelona, a 1.18.159, was almost seven seconds slower than the lap that took Oscar Piastri to pole position for McLaren at the Spanish Grand Prix.

As one has already hinted at, comparing these two times should be taken with a pinch of salt, especially when Hadjar was likely not going flat out like Piastri was in qualifying last year. Differing track conditions, tyres and setups also need to be taken into account.

READ MORE: Who is 2026 Red Bull F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know

Isack Hadjar might have put Red Bull at ease with Barcelona shakedown performance

The first day of testing in Barcelona was a strong showing for Red Bull and their new engine. Hadjar and former Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson racked up significant mileage without issue, minus the latter’s hiccup earlier in the day.

Red Bull were concerned about their reliability with their 2026 engine heading into Barcelona. But Hadjar’s performance on Monday might put them at ease as he completed his program with no problems.

Hadjar has a bold prediction for 2026 as he looks to fight for the world championship with Red Bull. But he will first be hoping that his car will be better suited to his driving style – Verstappen’s teammates have struggled to perform next to him since 2019.

No one knows where Red Bull truly are in terms of outright performance, but it was certainly an encouraging first day of testing for Laurent Mekies’ team.