14:28
F1 rookie's day ends early
Some reports coming from the Bahrain paddock that Arvid Lindblad has suffered a fuel issue with his Racing Bull and is done for the day. He's done 75 laps, so not a bad tally.
Lando Norris
Day 1 of first F1 2026 Bahrain pre-season test as it happened
Relive the first day of the opening F1 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain.
Key moments:
- F1 world champion Norris heads day one
- Verstappen tops day one morning
- Audi debuts radical new sidepods
- Two red flags but strong reliability
Lando Norris headed the opening day of the first official F1 pre-season test of 2026 in Bahrain.
The newly-crowned F1 world champion pipped his 2025 title rival Max Verstappen to the fastest time in his McLaren.
Verstappen set the pace in the morning session as F1 2026 preparations ramped up at the Bahrain International Circuit.
After a five-day private shakedown in Barcelona at the end of January, all 11 teams are back in action as the Bahrain International Circuit hosts two, three-day official pre-season tests over the next two weeks.
The first of which takes place between 11-13 February, before a second is held on 18-20 February.
Testing takes place between 7am and 4pm with a one-hour lunch break each day.
11 Feb 2026
14:23
Verstappen has really been putting Red Bull's new in-house-built engine through its paces. He's up to 105 laps now.
The reliability and performance from that power unit really caught a few of Red Bull's rivals by surprise in Barcelona.
Mercedes' George Russell had this to day on the matter last week:
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 2026 Bahrain test
© XPB Images
14:17
Verstappen improves
Verstappen has finally beaten his own benchmark with a 1m34.830s on soft tyres.
Meanwhile, Norris is up to second on a 1m35.581s in the McLaren.
14:10
Whatever Audi's issues were, Hulkenberg is back out and doing some flow-viz paint running.
Meanwhile, Leclerc is up to 31 laps in this session as he keeps chipping the mileage into that Ferrari.
As far as first days go (and, yes, we had had a shakedown in Barcelona already), reliability has been pretty impressive for the most part from everyone.
14:02
Lap times at 2pm
| 2026 F1 Bahrain Pre-Season Test 1: Day 1 (2pm) | |||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m35.433s | 99 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m35.602s | 54 |
| 3 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m36.108s | 56 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m36.433s | 52 |
| 5 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m37.169s | 81 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m37.568s | 15 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m37.819s | 26 |
| 8 | Arvid Lindblad | GBR | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m37.945s | 75 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m38.221s | 77 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m38.506s | 20 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | THA | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m38.715s | 26 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m38.871s | 49 |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m39.150s | 49 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m39.221s | 17 |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m39.767s | 27 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m39.883s | 36 |
| 17 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m40.330s | 28 |
| 18 | Kimi Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | No time set | 1 |
14:01
Two hours to go in this session and Max Verstappen continues to lead in the Red Bull with a 1m35.433s, which he set earlier today.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 2026 Bahrain test
© XPB Images
13:55
Audi stoppage
We're not sure yet what caused Hulkenberg's Audi to stop on track a little while ago, but he did manage to get it going again and back to the pits.
13:51
Williams has shared some drone footage from Bahrain. These cars do look pretty darn good out there!
13:44
It's now a little bit busier on track after that red flag. Norris is out there, as is Perez, Albon, Leclerc, Ocon and Verstappen.
13:39
Session restarts
That was only a brief stoppage. We're back underway again.
13:32
Red flag
The session has been stopped. Looks like Nico Hulkenberg has had a problem in the third sector in the Audi.
13:26
Pole time from last year in Bahrain was a 1m29s, but this is a new generation of cars with less downforce. That said, clearly there's been no real performance running yet, so just where these cars sit performance-wise compared to the previous machines is an unknown.
13:24
Verstappen has gone back out on some hard tyres as his lap count creeps up to 84 for the day so far. His time from the first session remains the benchmark.
13:21
Pierre Gasly now looks to have joined the action in the Alpine. But Perez has headed off, so still just the three runners out there according to our live timing.
13:18
At present, just three cars out on track: Leclerc in the Ferrari, Albon in the Williams and Perez in the Cadillac.
13:01
Lap times at 1pm
| 2026 F1 Bahrain Pre-Season Test 1: Day 1 (1pm) | |||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m35.433s | 82 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m35.602s | 54 |
| 3 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m36.108s | 56 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m36.433s | 52 |
| 5 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m37.169s | 74 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m37.819s | 13 |
| 7 | Arvid Lindblad | GBR | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m37.945s | 75 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m38.221s | 77 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m38.871s | 49 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m39.150s | 49 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | THA | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m39.416s | 5 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m39.883s | 36 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m40.214s | 7 |
| 14 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m40.330s | 28 |
| 15 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | No time set | 4 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Cadillac F1 Team | No time set | 4 |
12:49
Button backs Hamilton
Jenson Button has had some interesting things to say about his former McLaren F1 teammate Lewis Hamilton.
“It was tough watching Lewis in 2025. We were teammates for three years. I understand how good he is so it was really tough to see him struggle with the team. And you could see it in his face how much it was hurting," the 2009 world champion told Sky Sports News.
"You kind of forget everything he’s achieved in that moment in time because you just see the pain. But I think with the the new regulation changes we will see Lewis Hamilton back to his best, I really do.
"Because he is going to have input in how the car is designed and have confidence in him taking it in a direction that works for him. We want to see Ferrari and the front and we all want to see Lewis fighting at the front again."
Read the full story ⬇️
CLAIM LEWIS HAMILTON WILL BE "BACK TO HIS BEST" IN 2026
Lewis Hamilton
12:29
Norris, Leclerc join the action
New reigning F1 world champion Lando Norris joins the action for McLaren, having taken over from teammate Oscar Piastri for the afternoon session.
It's just an installation lap for the Briton, who quickly returns to the pits.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has gone out in the Ferrari.
Lando Norris
12:24
Verstappen heads out
Finally we have a car out on track and it's the morning pacesetter, Max Verstappen in his Red Bull.
Verstappen is closely followed out by Esteban Ocon's Haas.
What's that saying about waiting ages for a bus to turn up?
12:15
No cars out yet
The teams clearly aren't in too much of a rush to head out, as the pit lane remains empty with no cars out on track as of yet.
12:10
F1 2026 in action!
Take a look at every 2026 F1 car on track this morning, courtesy of F1...
12:03
Afternoon session underway!
Green flag and we are go for the afternoon session in Bahrain.
Another four hours of running coming your way!
11:44
Who is driving this afternoon?
There will be a host of driver changes during the lunch break with several new faces heading out for the afternoon session, including reigning world champion Lando Norris.
McLaren: Lando Norris
Mercedes: Kimi Antonelli
Red Bull: Max Verstappen
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc
Williams: Alex Albon
Racing Bulls: Arvid Lindblad
Aston Martin: Lance Stroll
Haas: Esteban Ocon
Audi: Nico Hulkenberg
Alpine: Pierre Gasly
Cadillac: Sergio Perez
F1 2026
11:28
Leclerc to takeover from Hamilton
Charles Leclerc will be getting in the Ferrari this afternoon, taking over from Lewis Hamilton.
11:17
Williams head morning mileage chart
Williams - 77
Racing Bulls - 75
Red Bull - 65
Haas - 64
Mercedes - 56
McLaren - 54
Ferrari - 52
Audi - 49
Cadillac - 49
Aston Martin - 33
Alpine - 28
Sainz