Alex set for second pre-season Test at Bahrain International Circuit

Our Thai racer will return to the track for another three days of testing this week

Published

17 FEB 2026

Est. reading time

2 min

Alex gained plenty of experience in Atlassian Williams F1 Team’s FW48 during last week’s pre-season Test — and he’ll have another chance to get acquainted with his new vehicle over the coming days.

AA23 accumulated a total of 208 laps (equating to 1,125 kilometres) across three sessions at the Bahrain International Circuit, with his best lap timing of 1:36.793 arriving on Day 3 in Sakhir.

Friday’s result of P11 followed P10 and P9 placings on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, with Albono’s attention now switching towards further improvements this week.

He will return to the track for another trio of stints in Bahrain from tomorrow (Wednesday 18th February) through to Friday 20th February.

As with the first Test, each day is set to run from 10am to 7pm AST, with a mandated lunch break from 2-3pm.

Alex and team-mate Carlos Sainz will divide the allocated time between them, as they did so effectively last week — only McLaren were able to match their cumulative tally of 422 laps.

And the duo can hope for increased performance from the FW48 this time out, following the learnings of Test 1.

Alex explained as much when reflecting on last week’s running on Friday, saying:

“We knew it was going to be a challenging three days getting up to speed and starting to understand the new car and regulations.

“The positive is that we got quite a few laps under our belt and the car seems reliable, which is never easy for the first week of testing.

“On my side, getting to grips with a new car has been a challenge, but I am enjoying the intricacies of it.

There’s a lot of improvement to be done and a lot to learn to bring a better package for the next round of testing, so it will be a busy next week of really digging into the data.”

Our Thai racer will be fully aware that both he and the team need to maximise the next few days, as the final on-track opportunity to test Williams new challenger before the season gets underway.

After all, there is only a two-week gap from the conclusion of proceedings in Bahrain to Round 1 at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit (6th-8th March).

You can stay up to date with Albono’s progress this week — and throughout the upcoming campaign — on the AA23 website and app.