McLaren and Alpine in action during Pirelli test for 2026 at Jerez

Another tyre test for Pirelli was run on Wednesday. Again, like last week, it took place in Spain. Only this time it was not driven at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but at the Circuito Angel Nieto in Jerez. Alpine and McLaren were the teams in action during the tyre test.

The session focused on developing slick tyre solutions for the tyre sets that will be driven in 2026. The teams went to work on different compounds, from the C2 tyre to the C4 tyre.

Patricio O'Ward was in action on behalf of McLaren. He got behind the wheel of the MCL60, the car used in the 2023 Formula 1 season. On behalf of Alpine was Pierre Gasly, who completed the tyre test. He also drove his team's 2023 car.

A total of 310 laps were driven, including 153 by O'Ward and 157 by Gasly. O'Ward's fastest lap was 1:19:848, while Gasly set the fastest time of 1:18:092. Pirelli stressed that different programmes were completed, so the times say little.

Tests will be repeated on Thursday. Jack Doohan will be active during that test. He will be driving for Alpine. Mercedes will take the place of McLaren. The German team will use George Russell to run the tyre test.