Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap on the final day of the 2026 Formula 1 race in Barcelona, with Mercedes completing the most mileage of the week.
The Ferrari driver clocked an unofficial time of 1:16.348 at the end of day five at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, knocking former Mercedes team-mate George Russell off the top spot.
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In what can only be called a “journey to glory” for Hamilton, he accomplished the feat late on Friday after switching to soft tires during a promising morning from teammate Charles Leclerc.
The Monaco took the unofficial morning session title with a time of 1 minute 16.653 seconds, 0.793 seconds ahead of runner-up Oscar Piastri, with 78 laps to the McLaren’s 80 laps.
Still, it certainly marks a huge improvement for Piastri, who was more motivated after Friday’s run after his race ended prematurely with fuel issues on Thursday.
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“It’s good,” said the McLaren driver, who finished third in the 2025 championship. “It was nice to get a few laps on the board this morning and it went much smoother than the previous two days, so that’s good. I got into a good rhythm and was able to start to get a feel for what the car was actually like, which was good.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
His teammate and reigning world champion Lando Norris was close behind on the freezing afternoon, setting a best lap time of 1:16.594, until Hamilton beat him in the closing seconds.
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But the purpose of the test is not necessarily to get the fastest lap, but to complete the most mileage and prepare the power unit for official pre-season testing and the 24-round schedule.
That honor went to Mercedes, the favorite for this year’s constructors’ and drivers’ titles, having completed more than 500 laps in the three days of racing allowed on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli even ran a full race simulation for Mercedes on day two, while Russell set an unofficial 1m16.4s on Thursday and at one stage looked set to remain unbeaten.
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Key to its success is that the power unit is considered the best in F1, completing the most laps compared to other engine suppliers across the factory team and its customer outfits.
Between Mercedes, McLaren and Alpine (the German brand’s fourth customer, Williams, is absent due to production delays), the engine is understood to have completed around 1,000 laps.
George Russell, Mercedes
George Russell, Mercedes
The Ferrari engine has the second highest mileage and the Red Bull Ford powertrain is third after returning to the main lineup on Friday with Max Verstappen driving.
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The four-time world champion started in the morning and completed 69 laps with a best time of 1m18.285s in his first appearance for Red Bull Racing since Isack Hadjar’s crash on Tuesday.
Other teams taking part in Friday’s race include Haas, Audi, Cadillac and Aston Martin, the latter of which only took part in the last two days of testing this week but has caused a stir with its unique sidepod and bonnet designs under Adrian Newey.
Although Lance Stroll only managed five laps and raised the red flag on Thursday, teammate Fernando Alonso had a much smoother performance on Friday, completing at least 49 laps.
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However, the day went much smoother than the others this week, with no red flags arising, ahead of F1’s next collective track test in Bahrain on February 11-13.
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