00:00F1 is back for the first official test session of the season.
00:03All 11 teams and 22 drivers are present for six days of running across two weeks at the Bahrain International
00:10Circuit.
00:11McLaren enter the 2026 season as reigning back-to-back Constructors' Champions,
00:15and it was Oscar Piastri in the car for the morning of day one.
00:18The Aussie, who had battled for last season's Drivers' Championship until the very final round,
00:22was on the pace from the off in Bahrain.
00:25Despite McLaren running just over half the number of laps of Mercedes in Barcelona,
00:29the Woking-based outfit, were raring to go in Bahrain.
00:33Piastri's second-fastest in the morning session, just two-tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen.
00:37The Australian gave Turn 10 a wide berth following Aston Martin's Lance Stroll,
00:42but completed 54 laps before the lunch break.
00:452025 world champion Lando Norris took over for the afternoon session,
00:50topping the day one times with a 1.34.669.
00:54The Brit added a further 58 laps to McLaren's total,
00:57ensuring they ended the day with well over 100 tours of the circuit.
01:01George Russell was the only driver other than the title protagonist to win a Grand Prix in 2025,
01:06the Brit victorious on two occasions, at Canada and Singapore.
01:10And the Silver Arrows were in fine form throughout Shakedown,
01:13logging 500 laps in Barcelona, more than any other team.
01:17On to Bahrain, and Mercedes were again getting the laps in.
01:21Russell ran the morning session, completing 56 laps,
01:24before teammate Kimi Antonelli took over for the afternoon.
01:28The Brit did have a little trouble at the off-camber Turn 10,
01:31running wide on three separate occasions.
01:35Antonelli's running was delayed after Mercedes found an issue while changing setups,
01:39but the Italian was able to hit the track,
01:41completing 30 laps despite a wild snap at Turn 4.
01:45Team principal Toto Wolff offering his thoughts on Mercedes' progress so far.
01:50I think everything goes according to the plan.
01:54We have, you know, it isn't smooth sailing,
01:56we have complications on the car balance,
01:58which are a little bit more articulated here than they were in Barcelona,
02:01obviously due to the hot conditions.
02:03And we've seen a very, very strong Verstappen this morning.
02:06So, you know, we have to get our eggs together, all of us,
02:09and then maybe by the end of the test,
02:10we will understand more whether what we've done is good and good enough.
02:14Max Verstappen described 2025 as his greatest ever season,
02:17just two points away from a fifth world title,
02:20despite driving a car which, quote, he hated at times.
02:23The Dutchman excelled to lead the most laps,
02:26claim the most pole positions, and win the most races in 2025.
02:29A strong shakedown in Spain saw the Red Bull Ford powertrains
02:33run over 600 laps between both teams.
02:36In Bahrain, Verstappen was happily lapping once again,
02:39the quadruple champ topping the times in the morning session,
02:42while also completing 64 laps.
02:44Despite leading the early running,
02:46the 28-year-old did have a lock-up at turn one,
02:49before saving a spectacular slide at turn four.
02:52Verstappen ended the day with 136 laps,
02:54and set a time only marginally slower than Lando Norris at the top.
02:58Lewis Hamilton endured the first podium-less season of his career in 2025,
03:03the Briton missing out on the roster for the first time in 19 years.
03:07Despite this, a special sprint victory in China guaranteed Hamilton's first season
03:11wasn't without some success, and a positive shakedown in Spain
03:15ensured the Brit came to Bahrain with optimism of the season ahead.
03:19The seven-time champ survived a scare at turn one,
03:21rotating his new SF26 180 degrees,
03:25before locking up in the very same place later on.
03:28Track's dirty, sandy, and very windy,
03:31so you're just kind of sliding around.
03:32So, you know, it was just kind of blushing off the cobwebs, I guess.
03:35Yeah, over the next couple of days, the track will get better.
03:38Charles Leclerc hopped in for the afternoon.
03:40The man from Monaco was the only driver other than George Russell,
03:43Max Verstappen, and the McLarens to secure a pole last season,
03:46stunning all to claim the top spot in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
03:50Leclerc completed 80 laps and set the third fastest time on day one.
03:54Despite their 2025 success,
03:56Williams were the only team to miss the shakedown in Barcelona.
03:58Team principal James Vals said missing the test
04:01was one of the hardest decisions he'd ever had to make.
04:04The team has since completed a shakedown at Silverstone.
04:07The FW48 breaking cover as both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz
04:11got a taste of their new office for the first time.
04:14On to Bahrain, and Sainz was at the wheel in the morning,
04:17clocking a session-topping 77 laps.
04:19But the Spaniard did bounce across the kerbs at Turn 10 on multiple occasions,
04:23as he continues to find the limit of his FW48.
04:27Albon continued the fine form to complete a further 68 laps in the afternoon,
04:31ensuring the Williams team set the most laps on day one.
04:35Team boss James Vals, aware of the task ahead
04:38to match 2025's impressive points haul.
04:41I would say we still have a huge amount to do before Melbourne.
04:45Facts are, we did miss three days of testing in Barcelona.
04:48Good news is, the weather's good here.
04:50But we did miss that.
04:52And whilst we had other plans,
04:54we just need to make sure now that we forge a good, sensible plan
04:57across these six days to catch back up.
04:59Aston Martin are another team looking for laps in Bahrain,
05:01having only completed one full day of running in Barcelona.
05:05Lance Stroll was in the car on day one,
05:07the Canadian taking multiple trips beyond the boundaries at Turn 10,
05:10as he got to grips with the new car.
05:12The 27-year-old ended the day with 36 laps,
05:15clocking a best time of 1.39.883.
05:19Cadillac got the wheels turning with a shakedown at Silverstone
05:22before heading to Barcelona to complete three more days of running.
05:25And the American team unveiled their 2026 colours
05:28with a spectacular event in New York City.
05:31Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez shared driving duties on day one in Bahrain.
05:36The Finn took the controls in the morning session,
05:38but was a passenger as his car careered across the runoff
05:41after a lockup at Turn 10.
05:43With 10 race wins under his belt,
05:45Bottas is hopeful of what he can achieve on his return.
05:48It was so important to be at the Barcelona shakedown
05:51and here ready and running the car.
05:53You know, if we would have missed any days,
05:55we would definitely be in trouble in Melbourne.
05:58So, yeah, I think the team has done so far
06:01an incredible job to be on time,
06:03but now, you know, step by step,
06:05instead of problem solving and debugging,
06:07the focus will turn into performance.
06:09And that's what we need to keep finding
06:11in the next weeks, months and years.
06:13We're here to race.
06:14So, of course, we are going to try and focus on performance,
06:16try and learn about the car,
06:18which is a completely new beast to everyone
06:20in the team.
06:21Team-mate Perez was lucky to get away with one.
06:24At Turn 1, the Mexican suffering a massive double front lockup
06:27as he started his lap.
06:29Despite this, Cadillac ended the day with 107 laps,
06:32with Perez setting the team's fastest lap of a 1.38.8.2.8.
06:37Nico Hülkenberg proved that good things come to those who wait,
06:40after finally collecting his maiden Formula 1 podium
06:43at the 2025 British Grand Prix.
06:46The Hulk has started 250 races
06:48and brings vast experience to Audi
06:50in their first Formula 1 season,
06:52the German having helped to develop a number of teams
06:54throughout his 14-year established career.
06:57Hülkenberg shared the first day of testing
06:59with Gabriel Bortoletto,
07:00who had a small moment at Turn 1
07:02as he rotated his new R26.
07:05The experienced German also had a mishap at Turn 1,
07:08locking a front right tyre before running off the road.
07:11And there were more issues for the 38-year-old Hülkenberg,
07:13coming to a stop with two and a half hours remaining.
07:16But the issue was quickly fixed, allowing him to return to the action
07:19as the German team completed 122 laps on day one of testing.
07:23Alpine switched to Mercedes powertrains for 2026,
07:26having been powered by Renault since 2015,
07:28when they used Mercedes for a singular season.
07:31The French manufacturer impressed in the shakedown
07:33to complete nearly 350 laps.
07:36No small feat for a team changing power unit suppliers.
07:39But there were issues early on in Bahrain,
07:42Franco-Colopinto completing just 28 laps
07:44before coming to a halt in the morning session.
07:46We had a few issues with the car, I think, normal,
07:48from the test, you know, but it's part of it.
07:51So we are checking everything and, you know,
07:53waiting through the stuff and getting through the learnings.
07:57And yeah, just normal things of the test.
07:59Alpine managed to fix the issue for the afternoon session,
08:01allowing Pierre Gasly to complete 49 laps,
08:04telling a fastest time of 1.36.765.
08:08Haas' year started well,
08:11having completed nearly 400 laps of Barcelona during shakedown,
08:15third only to Mercedes and Ferrari.
08:17And Esteban Ocon was at the controls for day one in Bahrain,
08:21completing over 100 laps, setting the fourth fastest time.
08:25But the Frenchman did join a plethora of other drivers
08:28by locking up into turn 10.
08:31Like their sister team Red Bull,
08:32the Racing Bulls will also run the new RB Ford powertrain in 2026.
08:37With significant mileage in Barcelona,
08:39they start the official tests in a good position.
08:4118-year-old Arvid Lindblad was in the hot seat on day one,
08:44the only rookie joining the grid in 2026.
08:47The Brit becomes the 20th Red Bull junior
08:49to graduate to F1,
08:50having won races in Formula 3 and Formula 2
08:53over the past two seasons.
08:55Lindblad's day was cut short
08:56after Racing Bulls discovered a fluid leak.
08:58Nonetheless, the young Brit logged 75 laps,
09:01setting the 12th fastest time.
09:03Reigning world champion Lando Norris
09:04was fastest on day one in Bahrain,
09:07one-tenth quicker than his old foe Max Verstappen in P2.
09:10They were followed by Leclerc, Ocon, Piastri and Russell,
09:13Lewis Hamilton, Gasly, Hülkenberg and Albon
09:16rounding out the top 10.
09:17In P11, it was Antonelli with Lindblad,
09:19Sainz and Perez just behind.
09:21Bortoleto, Bottas, Stroll and Colopinto
09:24rounded out the runners.
09:25And it was Williams completing the most laps,
09:28with Red Bull and Ferrari not far behind.
09:31Solid laps completed for Audi, Haas, McLaren and Cadillac,
09:34as Mercedes, Alpine, Racing Bulls and Aston Martin
09:37will hope for more over the coming days.
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