Alex puts FW48 through its paces as testing gets underway in Bahrain

Here’s how AA23 got on during his first day of pre-season testing

Published

12 FEB 2026

Est. reading time

2 min

Alex enjoyed a successful first official Test outing of 2026 yesterday — maximising an extended opportunity to get to grips with Atlassian Williams F1 Team’s new FW48.

Our Thai racer took part in the afternoon session at the Bahrain International Circuit, where he completed 68 laps and recorded a best time of 1:37.437.

That was enough for a P10 finish — though it would be unwise to put too much focus on finishing positions during testing, especially with Albono driving in the cooler hours of the day.

It meant he was able to get plenty of experience behind the wheel of Williams’ new vehicle, however, driving approximately 368 kilometres (228.7 miles) across the session.

Notably, Williams were able to complete the most laps of any constructor on Day 1, which will have helped the team learn more about their new challenger.

That was certainly the opinion of Atlassian Williams F1 Team Principal James Vowles, who said: “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.”

And when it came to the feedback of Alex and his team-mate Carlos Sainz, James added: “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.”

Alex still has two more days of testing remaining this week. He will drive the FW48 again this morning (Thursday 12th February), before another afternoon session on Friday.

That’s not the end of Albono’s time in Sakhir, though, with a second Test scheduled for next week from Wednesday 18th - Friday 20th February.

Keep up to date with all the action on the AA23 website and app — and check out a gallery of Alex’s involvement on Day 1 in Bahrain here.