Mercedes and McLaren drivers took part in a Pirelli tyre test at the Nürburgring, while Alpine conducted a filming day at Silverstone. The sessions involved the teams' 2026 Formula 1 machinery and focused on tyre development. All four Mercedes and McLaren race drivers completed significant laps over two days.
Mercedes and McLaren participated in a Pirelli test at the Nürburgring this week using their 2026 F1 cars. On Tuesday, George Russell of Mercedes ran 127 laps, while McLaren's Oscar Piastri managed 65 laps after encountering a technical issue. The following day, Mercedes' championship leader Kimi Antonelli covered 109 laps, and McLaren's Lando Norris completed 108 laps. The test primarily evaluated variants of the C3 compound, Pirelli's medium tyre in the C1-C5 range, along with softer options. Data from these sessions is shared across all F1 teams as part of Pirelli's development programme. All teams receive invitations to such tests. Lando Norris described the two days as productive. “The aim was to help Pirelli with their tyre development for the future, and we provided as much detailed feedback as we could,” Norris said. “It’s been a while since we’ve driven here at the Nürburgring... It’s cool to be able to drive it in this era of Formula 1 cars.” Oscar Piastri echoed the sentiment, calling it a useful day despite no car changes allowed. “It’s always good to get the opportunity to make sure all systems work and to get a better understanding of the car, especially with the new regulations,” Piastri said. Meanwhile, Alpine held its second filming day of the season at Silverstone on Wednesday with Franco Colapinto. Limited to 200km under regulations, the promotional run used demonstration tyres from Pirelli. Last Friday, Lewis Hamilton tested wet-weather tyres for Ferrari at Fiorano, completing 297 laps on a soaked track. The next Pirelli test is scheduled for mid-May at Magny-Cours, also focusing on wet tyres.
