2026 Formula 1 Bahrain Preseason Test Day1: Teams & Drivers Report from Sakhir

It is still unwise to make any predictions but aside from a few outliers, the teams have impressed with the reliability of their 2026 machinery with all power unit manufacturers both new and old delivering decent products.

McLaren's Lando Norris was fastest while Max Verstappen impressed in the Red Bull RB22 while Mercedes, Racing Bulls, and Aston Martin had some issues with Ferrari's SF-26 showing early signs of being a tricky car to drive.

Here is a compilation of what teams and driver had to say after concluding Day 1 of running in Bahrain.

McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team continued their pre-season preparations with 112 laps of running on Day 1 of Formula 1's Bahrain Pre-Season Test 1.

The team split their planned running across the day, with Oscar Piastri taking to the track during the morning session and completing 54 laps. Lando Norris then drove the MCL40 in the afternoon, adding a further 58 laps. Both drivers focused heavily on collecting aerodynamic data, rather than traditional continuous runs often seen during pre-season testing. This approach is designed with the objective of maximising learning across a range of aerodynamic setups and providing a broader understanding of the car's operating window rather than focusing on mileage or lap time. This has been useful and allows us to better understand the car and explore further performance opportunities as the test continues.

Sakhir's high track temperatures and strong winds provide the team with valuable opportunities to gather important data under conditions significantly different to those experienced at Formula 1's Barcelona Shakedown last month. The team continues to grow its understanding of the MCL40 as each run provides further understanding on areas such as evaluating straight and corner mode while also continuing to extract greater performance from the power unit.

Lando will return to the MCL40's cockpit tomorrow as the team continues its preparations for the 2026 season.

Lando Norris: "It was good to be back in the car today, we completed a lot of test items which gave us a lot of data to look over, as well as a better understanding of the car. Of course, being in Bahrain in the sun, the conditions are very different to Barcelona, very hot and quite windy, and that was interesting to see how differently the car behaves. Positive day, lots learned, and looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow."

Oscar Piastri: "A good first morning back in the car. It all ran smoothly and I feel like I got a better handle of what the car's doing and what it needs. The conditions are very different here compared to Barcelona, so it was good to get some running in a different environment. We'll go through the data, see what we can pull out from it and how we can improve ahead of getting back on track."

Rob Marshall, Chief Designer: "A productive first day in Bahrain as we continue our early on-track learning and developments for the MCL40. We have approached this week by prioritising our learning and therefore chosen a deliberate run plan to optimise work that ultimately accelerates the development of our package.

"You can see from Oscar and Lando's running that they have both completed heavy aerodynamic testing today in conditions that are very different to the ones we experienced in Barcelona last month. With this in mind, we have prioritised data gathering runs over out and out mileage on this first day of the test.

"Everyone is pushing in the same direction, and the drivers' time invested in test items provides a solid foundation of learning, from which we can build on as we progress through pre-season testing."

Max Verstappen: "We had a good day today; we got in a lot of laps and tested different programmes. Red Bull Ford Powertrains is still a completely new project, compared to others, so there is so much to keep learning and figuring out ahead of the first race.

"We went through a lot of testing procedures that we might run into during a race weekend: this might be more straightforward for a Power Unit manufacturer who have been in the game a long time, but when you are new you need to test it all.

"Of course, we also did a lot of normal running. Everyone is running completely different programmes, so we are not focusing on lap times and the standings, but instead focusing on understanding the car and the tyres. It is a completely different track compared to Barcelona, so it is good to have that comparison.

"Looking at the day, it was all okay and we didn't run into trouble, which was the most important thing, so I can now look to Friday for what else we can learn."

Following the Barcelona Shakedown, the W17 returned to the track for the first of six days of testing in Bahrain over the next two weeks.

George was behind-the-wheel for the morning completing 56 laps before Kimi took over for the afternoon.

A suspension issue interrupted the Italian's running though and he was limited to only 30 laps before the chequered flag came out.

On the timing screens, George ended the day P6 with Kimi P11.

The team will return to the track tomorrow with Kimi in the car for the morning with George taking over for the afternoon.

A limited selection of images of the day is available on our media site. All imagery is rights-free for editorial use.

George Russell: "We've had a difficult first day here in Bahrain. We had a solid three days on track in Barcelona, but we haven't hit the ground running here in the Middle East. We were experimenting with the overall balance of the car this morning, but it didn't feel as responsive as it did in Spain. That is partly to do with the higher track temperatures but there's work for us to do to get the W17 into a happier place.

"Unfortunately, we lost plenty of laps this afternoon with a suspension issue that kept Kimi in the garage for a few hours. Our competitors, particularly Red Bull Racing and McLaren, have once again impressed as they did in Barcelona. It's clear that we've got ground to make up and we are already working hard to do so."

Kimi Antonelli: "It was good to be back in the car following the shakedown in Barcelona. Unfortunately, we had a suspension issue that interrupted our programme this afternoon, so my running was limited. We lost close to two hours of track time and that has set our programme back. The garage did a great job though to fix the problem as quickly as they could and we were able to complete 30 laps before the end of the day.

"It's not an ideal start to this first test so we're looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow. Several of our competitors have looked very strong today so we are playing catch-up. Our aim is to have a smoother day tomorrow and to add to our learning of the W17."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "Today has been difficult, especially compared to the near perfect running that we had in Barcelona, but in many ways, it has served to highlight a few areas that we need to improve. George had an interrupted session in the morning. We had several issues that meant we were late getting out first thing; that was due to a few changes in the garage that we hadn't done before during a session and that took a bit longer than expected. On top of that, the car balance wasn't great causing challenges with brake locking, poor traction and general inconsistency.

"Kimi took over after lunch and during the various changes, we discovered an issue on the suspension that required further investigation. That cost us a couple of hours and, once we had left the garage, we only had time remaining for two sets of the hardest tyre to baseline the car and work on our long running. We're still learning how the W17 behaves and clearly have a bit of work to do to get in back in the right window. Thankfully, we've got two more days of running this week and are not short of ideas, so hopefully can take a good step forward tomorrow."

The opening day of the first Bahrain test, saw Scuderia Ferrari HP drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc complete a total of 132 laps (715 km.) between them. Lewis was at the wheel in the morning before handing over to Charles for the afternoon.

Morning. Shortly after 10 local time, Lewis drove out of the garage, the car fitted with aero rakes to carry out measurement runs before moving onto the core of the programme. The Englishman started on C2 compound tyres before switching to the softer C3s. In total, he completed 52 laps (281 km), allowing the team to gather useful data on the car’s behaviour while he continued to increase his understanding of the car, running with grip levels and in temperatures very different to those experienced during the Barcelona shakedown. His best time was a 1’36”433 on C3 tyres.

Afternoon. During the lunchbreak, the car was set up for Charles, who exited the pit lane shortly after 15 to continue a programme very similar to that of his team-mate with several long runs, as well as practice starts and pit-stops. The Monegasque began with a series of laps on used C3 tyres before fitting a set of C2s, on which he completed 20 laps. Towards the end of the day, Charles fitted new C3 tyres and set his best time of 1’35”190, bringing his total to 80 laps (433 km).

Lewis Hamilton: "It was good to be back in the car and get more laps in. The track conditions today were quite tricky: there was a lot of dust and sand, and the wind was very strong.

"It’s still too early to say where we stand. At this stage everyone is running different programmes, so the most important thing is to focus on ourselves and keep learning.

"I see a very focused team, and over the next few days we’ll keep working step by step and continue to improve."

Charles Leclerc: "It was a productive half day of testing for me, as we were able to complete the programme without any major issues, which is always a positive at this stage. The feeling was quite different compared to Barcelona, as the conditions here are very different, but that’s exactly what we need, gaining experience on another track and understanding how the car behaves in different scenarios.

"So far, the data is broadly in line with what we expected from our simulations, which is encouraging. Now the focus is on continuing to work through the programme and making sure we are as prepared as possible for the first race."

The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team commenced its Bahrain testing programme at the Bahrain International Circuit today, with Lance Stroll returning to the cockpit of the AMR26.

Lance headed out on track in the morning and completed 36 laps across the day. The Honda team detected a data anomaly with the power-unit in the afternoon, which required further analysis and limited Lance's running.

This also marks the first time the AMR26 has run on track since the unveiling of its 2026 livery at Ithra in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on Monday.

Lance is scheduled to return to the AMR26 on Friday, while Fernando Alonso will take to the track tomorrow for his first run in Bahrain.

Lance Stroll: "Today was my first proper experience in the AMR26 after only completing three laps in Barcelona. We had a busy morning on track working through the run plan and the various test items. The afternoon was more limited as the team investigated a data anomaly with the PU. There's still plenty of work to do to get the car where we want it, but we'll use these two tests to learn as much as possible and keep building."

James Vowles, Team Principal: "A strong day for us in terms of getting the mileage under our belts. Our intent all the way through was just making sure we did the mileage required to learn and understand about the chassis, the power unit, and to start flushing gremlins out of the system. There will be a lot of them, and these next three days are all about getting a good foundation to work from, and we can then build performance from there. In terms of the car, what I can say is there's no vices to it, there's nothing particularly poor, but clearly we have to dig into the details.

"One interesting element we’ve experienced today is that the wind is completely different to what we've had any other time that we've been here. It's an easterly, south-easterly wind which causes us a little bit of trouble, especially into turn 1 and turn 10. Otherwise, the drivers' comments so far are net positive. The balance doesn't feel as though it's too far off, and that's without any setup work whatsoever, so it gives us a good baseline to start with going into tomorrow."

Franco Colapinto: "It was not a smooth morning for me in the car where a couple of issues cut short a lot of our intended programme. These things happen when you go testing, especially with a new car and it is important that we all learn and implement fixes for next time. Pierre was able to do quite a few laps in the afternoon, which gives us plenty to assess and hopefully means by the time I am back in the car on Friday, we are able to have a productive day and add more laps to our total. It will be interesting to push the car a bit here in Bahrain as we continue to develop our overall package. I am looking forward to working with the team tomorrow, keeping a close eye on things and going again in the car later in the week."

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director: "We have faced some challenges on the opening day of pre-season testing here in Bahrain. A few issues across the car meant we had to stop more than once in the morning session and put in place a few fixes. As expected with a completely new car, there will always be some issues and it is important that we get on top of them quickly and put measures in place to prevent any reoccurrence. Sometimes that can be the nature at tests and it is important to see a positive reaction from the entire team, drivers included, in handling some of those setbacks. It was a good turnaround in the afternoon to address some of those issues from the morning session and we had a slightly more productive session with Pierre in the afternoon. The aim is to be back tomorrow with Pierre in the car all day and add more laps and mileage to the car as we continue to learn and progress the package."

TGR Haas F1 Team completed 115 laps on the first day of official pre-season testing, held at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Esteban Ocon behind the wheel of the VF-26.

The Frenchman spent the morning working through a run plan consisting of a series of baseline runs utilizing Pirelli's C3 tire. A momentary red flag after the Alpine of Franco Colapinto stopped on track was the only pause in proceedings during the morning session (10:00 – 14:00 local), with Ocon completing 64 laps.

Focus turned to sustained running in the afternoon, sampling the C2 tire during the hottest part of the day. Later with ambient conditions cooling, lap times subsequently dropped, and Ocon recorded his fastest time of the day – a lap of 1:35.578, with his overall count of 115 laps set the second highest recorded on the opening day.

Day two of pre-season testing will see Ollie Bearman drive the VF-26.

Esteban Ocon: "It was a good day for us. Overall, we completed over 100 laps, which is pretty solid, and a lot was learned today across a lot of topics. We're getting the car more consistent, the way we want it, we're making it quicker than how it was in Barcelona, and that's nice. I wish Ollie and the team the best day tomorrow, hopefully they can have as productive a day as we had today."

Ayao Komatsu – Team Principal: "Today was the first day of official pre-season testing in Bahrain, and this week we're really focusing on the basics. With these brand new technical regulations, there is still a lot to understand about how to extract the most from these new car power units to make the most of the regulations. Next week we will dive into the detailed characteristics of our car, but for now we're continuing to iron out everything we've been learning about these new regulations."