Mercedes produced a statement by setting a new benchmark lap time on the penultimate day of F1’s pre-season shakedown at Barcelona. For the second day running, Mercedes held a 1-2 at the top of the timesheet at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but this time it was George Russell who led the way. Aston Martin finally debuts, McLaren hit troubleThursday marked the first appearance of Aston Martin’s highly-anticipated 2026 F1 challenger following the Silverstone squad’s late arrival to the first pre-season test. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENTArticle continues below ADVERTISEMENTHaas also chose not to participate on the penultimate day after encountering two mechanical problems on Wednesday, while Alpine and Audi opted to save their final day of running for Friday. Williams are missing the entire opening test after failing to build their FW48 car in time.