2026 Pre-Season Testing

[the EDGE]

There is hope we will get information from next week….

“The five-day event is taking place behind closed doors from January 26 to January 3o, with only the teams in attendance plus a small crew to record official F1 content.”

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what ... 2026-test/

[FNTC]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... yVR9RbiREo

However, I've got good news. There will be a daily highlights video, short interviews from the key protagonists – drivers and team principals – and clips on social media plus teams will be posting their own stuff and we'll have supporting coverage across Formula1.com, too.

[edu2703]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... yVR9RbiREo

However, I've got good news. There will be a daily highlights video, short interviews from the key protagonists – drivers and team principals – and clips on social media plus teams will be posting their own stuff and we'll have supporting coverage across Formula1.com, too.

So, it's false there would be a "social media ban", as some media outlets have reported.

I'm relieved we won't be relying exclusively on grainy pictures and videos taken miles from the circuit.

[Danlizzyman]

Are many teams confirmed to be running tomorrow?

[dialtone]

Looks like Red Bull just want a flat baseline for the whole test. I guess they can do more tire testing in Bahrain, but definitely less information that way since one track is just one track.

As Badger said in the RB thread C3 is the racing tire around Barcelona and likely to be more representative...

C2 or C3 are both race tires for Barcelona but tires are smaller this year so there’s not much point using the past 3-4 seasons as a model.

Anyway I doubt there’s much difference between those 2 compounds, not sure why you would show up with lots of C1s though, but really performance here isn’t important so I wouldn’t really waste too much time on it.

[JonoNic]

What would a typical test program for a team look like this week, especially given that the tests are being conducted behind closed doors? (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3)

[dialtone]

What would a typical test program for a team look like this week, especially given that the tests are being conducted behind closed doors? (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3)

Test some reference setups to collect data to setup and compare the simulator, do as many laps as you can like your life depends on it, do some engine specific testing (like deployment/recovery strategies, different cooling and so on).

Mostly get out of the test knowing you have a reliable car and that it matches what you saw in the simulator.

[JonoNic]

Test some reference setups to collect data to setup and compare the simulator, do as many laps as you can like your life depends on it, do some engine specific testing (like deployment/recovery strategies, different cooling and so on).

Mostly get out of the test knowing you have a reliable car and that it matches what you saw in the simulator.

I guess checking aero balance in clean air and when following with and without drag reduction. I wish we could see it live.

[bauc]

My favorite part of any season starts now LETS GO .....

[edu2703]

First pictures from the test

[FittingMechanics]

Oh cool, we'll have plenty of photos it looks like.

[Badger]

Makes sense they were going to run immediately. No time to wait around when there's weather on the horizon and data to collect. Now these teams have a head start on those who aren't ready.

[Badger]

Live timing.

Looks like we've had all 7 cars we expect out on track. Drivers running are Kimi, Bottas, Lawson, Hadjar, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Ocon.

[Lasssept]

[Snelbaard]

The Alpine's sidepods already seem to be different to what they ran for their Silverstone shakedown. They seem to have ditched the waterfalls.