Just two days after winning the title, the Briton was back aboard his MCL39 to lead McLaren’s tyre work for 2026, taking part in Pirelli’s group test using mule cars built to simulate next year’s reduced-downforce regulations.
Norris, who has confirmed he will switch to car number one in 2026, continued with his familiar number four for this final outing of the year, with the new digits set to appear from pre-season testing in January.
Running in the morning session before handing the car to Oscar Piastri, Norris ended the first half of the day as the quickest of the established race drivers before ultimately finishing 12th in the final standings with a 1m26.142s. Piastri ended the day 0.043s ahead in 10th with a 1m26.099s.
Young drivers dominated the timesheets, with Aston Martin junior Jak Crawford topping the day on a 1m23.766s ahead of Sauber’s Paul Aron and Williams rookie Luke Browning, who set the morning benchmark. Mercedes’ Fred Vesti and Red Bull’s Ayumu Iwasa rounded out the top five, while Kimi Antonelli was the quickest mule-car runner, sixth overall, with a 1m25.170s.
All 10 teams were required to field two cars: an experienced driver in a mule car for tyre work, and a rookie with fewer than three grand prix starts. That produced a mix of familiar names and new arrivals, with 2026 preparations already underway despite the 2025 season having only just concluded.
Red Bull and Racing Bulls ran their incoming drivers for the first time, with Isack Hadjar turning laps for the senior team and 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad gaining mileage for Racing Bulls ahead of his maiden campaign.
Ferrari split running between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, with Leclerc driving in the morning before Hamilton took over later in the day. Williams, Mercedes, Haas and Sauber also divided duties between their 2025 line-ups.
The session also brought early glimpses of next year’s technical direction. Mercedes trialled a prototype front-wing system that forms part of its first active-aero package, designed to mimic the Straight Line Mode that will replace DRS in 2026.
The provisional mechanism linked nose-mounted actuators to both wing elements, allowing them to open on the straights to cut drag. Ferrari continued evaluating similar concepts following earlier private running.
Meanwhile, Pirelli showcased its complete 2026 tyre range for the first time, featuring a revised sidewall graphic incorporating a chequered-flag motif. Compound colours remain unchanged, with white for hard, yellow for medium, and red for soft.
The 2026 set spans C1 to C5, with the Italian manufacturer targeting broader and more consistent performance gaps to increase strategic variety.
Tyre dimensions have also been downsized for the new regulations. Wheel rims stay at 18 inches, but tread widths shrink by 25mm at the front and 30mm at the rear, with overall diameter reduced by up to 15mm.
Pirelli will homologate the tyres on December 15 ahead of their first appearance on 2026 cars at the Barcelona test in late January.
The day ran largely smoothly, though there were a few incidents. Haas rookie Ryo Hirakawa crashed at Turn 1, damaging the rear wing before rejoining, while Esteban Ocon completed only four laps due to technical issues.
Mercedes’ Antonelli logged the most mileage with 157 laps, aided by the active-aero system allowing him to bypass the 300km/h straight-line speed limit imposed on standard 2025 tyres.
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