McLaren, Racing Bulls, Alpine and Ferrari in action for Pirelli in two-day test at the Hungaroring

On Tuesday, with ambient temperatures ranging between 21 degrees C and 31 degrees and track temperatures between 29 degrees and 56, the programme focused on a comparison of various prototypes of the C3, C4 and C5 compounds.

In the morning, the drivers carried out short runs to check the performance level of each of these, before switching to longer runs in the afternoon to observe their behaviour over longer distances.

McLaren, Racing Bulls and Alpine were on duty and the three teams all ran mule cars, adapted to fit the dimensions of the 2026 tyres which, while retaining the 18" diameter, are 25 mm narrower at the front and 30 at the rear. McLaren and Alpine's cars were based on their 2023 models, while RB used one from 2024.

All three drivers had been at the wheel over the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend: McLaren fielded race winner Lando Norris, Racing Bulls Liam Lawson, while Paul Aron, who had driven in the first free practice session on Friday for Stake, was behind the wheel of the Alpine.

Aron was quickest on 1:18.'789, followed by Norris (1:19.272) and Lawson (1:19.510) completing 159, 144 and 143 laps respectively.

On Wednesday, the air temperature ranged between 21 and 29 degrees, and the track temperature between 31 and 53 as drivers carried out a similar programme to Tuesday.

Just two drivers were on duty, Franco Colapinto for Alpine and Charles Leclerc for Ferrari.

Both had a morning plan that included short distance comparisons of different prototypes of compounds from C3 to C5 to check their level of overall performance, while the afternoon was due to focus on long runs to check their performance over longer distances; at this stage, a version of the C2 was also tested over a long run.

Both teams once again took to the track with mule cars, both using cars based on the chassis that they are using this season.

Unfortunately the programme was only partially completed because Alpine was forced to interrupt the test when Colapinto crashed in the first part of the morning session.

The car suffered damage which meant that he was unable to return to the track before the end of the session. Up to that time the Argentine had completed 25 laps, with a fastest time of 1:20.270. By contrast Leclerc was able to complete a full programme, ending the day with a total of 144 laps and a fastest time of 1:19.407.

"These have been two useful days for making progress with the development of our compounds for next season, given that we are now entering the home straight," said Mario Isola. "The Hungaroring is a demanding track due to its many slow curves and the amount of energy that goes into the tyres on a lap that is rather short. This makes it a challenging place to test tyres, in particular for the compounds that will be central to the 2026 range - which will go from C1 to C6 like this year.

"We have collected a lot of data," he added, "although it was a pity that we lost some of our potential mileage today when Colapinto went off the track, even though this was not in any way linked to the tyres.

"As for construction, we have verified our final solutions as far as homologation is concerned, ahead of the regulations coming on September 1. By contrast we now have three further test sessions - in Monza, Mugello and Mexico City - to conclude the development of the compounds, whose homologation is due on December 15."