F1 Testing

F1 fans facing another TV BLACKOUT for Bahrain testing

More bad news for fans ahead of the eagerly-awaited testing in 2026.

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Thursday 22 January 2026 09:15

F1 testing brings excitement to fever pitch for fans desperate to tune into their TV to see how their favourites will perform on track, but sadly they will not get to see all of it in 2026.

This year the sport will have three periods of on-track action before the season starts, with Barcelona (January 26-30) followed by two spells in Bahrain (February 11-13 and February 18-20).

Interest has never been higher with a massive set of new regulations sweeping into the sport in 2026.

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There are a ton of questions to be answered, including whether McLaren can dominate again, whether can Lewis Hamilton improve on a miserable Year 1 at Ferrari, how the new Red Bull/Ford power unit partnership will start out and whether Adrian Newey will be a massive success at Aston Martin.

But already fans are coping with the grim realisation that they will not get the full picture on what is happening in testing - at least not as it happens live.

Those fans had already left disappointed by the news that the January Barcelona test will be private - meaning no TV coverage or live streams at all from those five days. And now there appears to be more bad news.

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TV details for F1 Bahrain testing

According to the latest schedule revealed by F1 TV, coverage of the first three days of Bahrain testing from February 11-13 inclusive will be limited to just one hour per day - beginning at 3pm UK time (10am Eastern, 7am Pacific). That means the first session of the day will be blacked out completely.

This will come as a bitter blow to fans, who would have been looking forward to two full sessions of coverage each day.

The only good news is that it appears testing of the final three days of testing (February 18-20) - will have full TV coverage with the action beginning at 7am UK time (2am Eastern, 11pm Pacific the previous day on the West Coast).

What to expect from F1 testing in 2026

Okay, so expect a ton of change for testing in 2026 as those new regulations come into play. There could be a big grid shake-up in prospect.

During testing, all 11 teams (remember we have newcomers Cadillac to throw into the mix) will test the brand new Pirelli 2026 tyres, trial the X-Mode and Z-Mode on both front and rear wings and adjust to the new concept of cars.

Also the usual testing features, such as flow-vis paint (fluorescent fluid that allows aerodynamicists to analyse the airflow over aero surfaces such as the sidepods, rear wing and front wing while it’s on track).

Also expect to see the return of aero rakes, a light scaffolding mounted on the car that contains sensors that can measure pressure and temperature, or can measure how the airflow flows from the tyres or the front wing, for example.

So why do teams use aero rakes by the way? It means they can compare data from the wind tunnel with data from the aero rakes to come up with a better aerodynamic setup for a particular circuit.

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F1 Testing