F1 Today: Hadjar suffers crash as McLaren skips Tuesday outing in Barcelona

Formula 1 continued its first shakedown week ahead of the new season, with only two teams taking to the circuit – Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari.

The McLaren team, who were expected to hit the track in Montmelo, opted against it, stating they would rather participate in the final three days of running.

Despite only two teams taking part, the session was far from being dull of action, with Max Verstappen dominating the morning session ahead of Charles Leclerc.

The four-time world champion clocked a lap time of 1:20.0, eight-tenths ahead of his rivals, despite completing only 27 laps. Verstappen, who started on dry tyres, was later forced to switch to wet-weather tyres after heavy rain fell on the circuit.

For Leclerc, despite not matching the pace of the Red Bull driver, the Monegasque completed an impressive 64 laps, with a best lap time of 1:20.8. The Ferrari driver exuded optimism at the end of his session and did not hold back his excitement during interactions with the media.

While the morning session was largely incident-free, the same could not be said for the afternoon runners – Hadjar and Hamilton.

The pair, who took over from Verstappen and Leclerc respectively, had their fair share of off-track incidents. Hadjar was the first to bring out the red flag after crashing at Turn 14 in the tricky Barcelona conditions. The Red Bull Racing driver, who completed 51 laps, suffered rear-end damage that ended his session.

Shortly after, Hamilton also took a brief excursion into the gravel trap. The seven-time world champion, however, was able to resume on-track action without any significant damage to his SF-26 car.

Looking ahead, Wednesday, 28 January, is expected to see more teams hitting the track as they aim to complete the remaining days of the shakedown schedule.

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