On February 18 – 20, 2026, the final round of F1 testing before the 2026 season will take place at the Bahrain circuit. In the text, you will find the most important information about team lineups, tire selection, as well as information about broadcasts on Eleven Sports and F1 TV.
Read more Report from the fourth day of F1 testing in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 season
Formula 1 testing before the 2026 season takes place in three rounds. The first of them was treated as a shakedown, i.e., a private test. It took place on January 26 – 30 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The second round of testing took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Bahrain on February 11-13. These were tests open to fans and media, but only the last hour of each day was broadcast live. The final round of testing will take place again in Bahrain on February 18-20. This round will be broadcast in its entirety, with eight hours of live coverage available each day. Each team can field only one car per day, so a maximum of eleven cars will be on the track at the same time.
Team lineups for the second round of F1 testing in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 season
The table will be updated regularly, as not all teams have provided their plans for all days in advance, and sometimes changes are made during the tests. Two drivers on one day means that the first one will drive in the morning session and the second in the afternoon. Only regular team drivers will participate in the tests.
| Team / day | Wednesday, February 18 | Thursday, February 19 | Friday, February 20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | Norris / Piastri | Norris / Piastri | Piastri / Norris |
| Mercedes | Antonelli / Russell | Russell / Antonelli | Antonelli / Russell |
| Red Bull | Hadjar | Verstappen | Hadjar / Verstappen |
| Ferrari | Leclerc / Hamilton | Hamilton | Leclerc |
| Williams | Albon / Sainz | Albon | Sainz |
| Racing Bulls | Lindblad / Lawson | Lawson | Lindblad |
| Aston Martin | Alonso / Stroll | Alonso | Stroll |
| Haas | Ocon / Bearman | Bearman / Ocon | Ocon / Bearman |
| Audi | Hulkenberg / Bortoleto | Bortoleto / Hulkenberg | Hulkenberg / Bortoleto |
| Alpine | Gasly / Colapinto | Colapinto | Gasly |
| Cadillac | Perez / Bottas | Bottas / Perez | Perez / Bottas |
Each day of testing will last eight hours. The morning and afternoon sessions will each last four hours, with a one-hour lunch break in between. During this break, press conferences with drivers and team principals will be organized at the track. Each day, according to the time in Poland, the tests will run from 8:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 17:00. The afternoon session will be held largely under artificial lighting at lower air temperatures, which will be more representative conditions for testing the cars.
Full broadcasts of the second round of testing in Bahrain
The second round of testing in Bahrain will be broadcast in its entirety on the Eleven Sports 1 channel and on the F1 TV service in Pro / Premium packages. Eleven Sports 1 will additionally broadcast studio programs, and their correspondents in Bahrain will be Aldona Marciniak and Robert Smoczyński. The tests on this TV channel will be commented on by many people in various configurations, changing every hour. On F1 TV, in addition to full broadcasts with English commentary, summary programs and additional magazines, mainly devoted to technical topics, will also be broadcast. The detailed test broadcast schedule can be checked here.
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A promotion for the purchase of an annual F1 TV Premium package is valid until February 20. A 15% discount will be available until the last day of testing. This is the best promotion of its kind all year. Full details about this promotion can be found here.
Read more Report from the fifth day of F1 testing in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 season
Pirelli tire availability during the final tests in Bahrain
During the first round of testing in Bahrain, each team could choose 28 sets of tires made from the hardest compounds C1, C2, and C3. For the second round of testing, teams chose 24 sets of tires from any compound from C1 to C5. Additionally, they can use tire sets left over from the first round of testing (a given set can have a maximum of nine laps completed). It is worth noting that Pirelli most often nominates C1 – C3 compounds for the Bahrain GP, as it is a very demanding circuit for tires. Therefore, teams chose few sets of C4 and C5 compounds, as they will only work for single fast laps and short runs.
During the tests, C1 and C2 compound tires will be marked in white, C3 and C4 compounds in yellow, and C5 compounds in red. To distinguish tires marked with the same colors, the C2 and C4 compounds will only have colored logos, without the standard stripe.
Teams have applied different tire strategies. Mercedes has no soft compounds, while on the other hand, Red Bull, Williams, Aston Martin, and Alpine have no tires from the hardest compound at all. Teams chose the most tires from the C3 compound because it provides the most balanced performance on this track. Considering the number of tires chosen from the C4 and C5 compounds, we can expect several qualifying simulations.
In 2025, during pre-season testing in Bahrain, the best single lap time was 1:29,348 and was set by Carlos Sainz in a Williams on the second day using C3 compound tires. A few weeks later, during the qualifying session, Oscar Piastri in a McLaren was the fastest – 1:29,841, also on C3 tires. Qualifying times were worse due to gusty winds and high temperatures.
This year, during the first round of testing in Bahrain, the best single lap time was achieved by Kimi Antonelli in a Mercedes – 1:33,669 on C3 compound tires. During the first round of testing, drivers drove faster day by day. If the trend continues (also due to the availability of better tires), we can expect the best times during the final round to be slightly below 1:32,000.
Summary and reports from the tests on CyrkF1
On the blog, I plan to publish summaries in the evening after each testing day, and I will add the links here below. If any interesting technical innovations worth a broader explanation appear, I will prepare such articles. On my social media, I will post short updates if something interesting happens.
Report from the fourth day of F1 testing in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 season.
Report from the fifth day of F1 testing in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 season.
Report from the sixth day of F1 testing in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 season.
Information about previous testing rounds can be found on the blog in the category of articles regarding F1 testing here.
Read more Report from the fifth day of F1 testing in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 season
