Preview: Pre-season Test 2026

Find out all the key information about this week’s pre-season Test

Published

10 FEB 2026

Est. reading time

3 min

Alex got his first taste of Atlassian Williams F1 Team’s FW48 during the car’s shakedown at Silverstone last week — but things are set to ramp up a notch in Sakhir over the coming days.

Official pre-season testing begins this Wednesday, when we’ll get a chance to learn more about Albono’s vehicle for 2026.

AA23 will get to enjoy an initial three days of running across the Test in Bahrain, before things resume for a second test at the Middle Eastern venue next week.

Here’s everything you need to know about what’s coming up for our Thai racer…

When is the Formula 1 pre-season Test in Bahrain?

This week’s test starts tomorrow (Wednesday 11th February) and runs until Friday 13th February.

Proceedings are set to commence at 10am AST each day and conclude at 7pm, with a one-hour mandatory lunch break from 2-3pm.

Alex is pencilled in for afternoon sessions on Wednesday and Friday, as well as a morning session on Thursday.

There will then be a second Test, also in Sakhir, next week from 18th-20th February.

Where is the pre-season Test taking place?

The Bahrain International Circuit has been a regular fixture on the Formula 1 calendar since 2004, hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix from 2004 to 2010 and consistently since 2012.

It even held the season’s opening race from 2021 to 2024 and has been the home of pre-season testing since 2021, too.

Stretching across 5.412 km (3.363 miles), this track has a unique combination of high-speed straights, mid-speed corners and slower technical sections, making it the ideal place to put cars through their paces before the main campaign begins.

What does Alex have to say?

Alex touched on his upcoming visit to Sakhir when speaking after last week’s shakedown at Silverstone:

"That’s shakedown done! Obviously a few bits of data to look at and areas to improve, but generally a fairly smooth day,” he said.

“We had decent weather for Silverstone at this time of year and glad to finally be in the car and driving the FW48.

“Our full focus is on Bahrain now, looking at the data and getting ready for the start of the season.”

What should you be looking out for?

It can be difficult to ascertain what we can learn from pre-season testing, as Formula 1 teams are often quite secretive about revealing too much to the rest of the paddock!

They typically don’t reveal how much fuel is used during a session, for example, and may even deliberately put in slower laps to hide a car’s true speed.

Nonetheless, top times are still worth paying attention to, as there will undoubtedly be some running on low fuel and with soft tyres.

New technological developments also provide plenty of intrigue, though the various cars on the grid often look somewhat different by the time it gets to the season’s opening race.

Anything else to know?

We’ll have the best snaps from this week’s Test and reaction from Alex on the AA23 website and app, so stay tuned for all the info you need about his progress in Bahrain.

And if you want to get in the mood for Albono’s upcoming stint in Sakhir, make sure to check out our throwback gallery from last year’s Test here.