F1 Testing 2026: Barcelona schedule, times and the best way to follow on TV

The waiting is over and F1 testing is here in 2026 with five days of action on track in Barcelona about to get under way.

With sweeping new regulations coming into the sport this year, a seismic shake-up on the grid is in prospect, particularly if all those Mercedes rumours turn out to be true.

But before any shake-up comes a shakedown, as 10 of the 11 teams (more on who is missing to come) take to the track at the Circuit de Catalunya this week to put their 2026 cars through their paces.

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Barcelona testing schedule and session start times

Testing in Barcelona runs from Monday January 26 to Friday January 30 inclusive - five days of action. It should be noted though that each can only run for three of the five days.

Testing each day begins at 0900 local time (CET), which is 0800 in the UK, 0300 Eastern or midnight Pacific on the West Coast of the US.

There are two sessions each day, with each one lasting for four hours. The morning session is from 0900-1300 (local time) with the afternoon session 1400-1800.

How to follow the action on TV

Okay so we’ve given you the good news - F1 cars out on track for the first time in 2026. But there is a catch. You won’t actually be able to see them.

There will be no live TV coverage of the cars on track this week, the week is a total blackout and everything takes place behind closed doors.

There is though a way that rabid fans can keep up with the action - thanks to a genius move from Sky Sports in the UK.

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That comes thanks to a nightly TV highlights show (also on YouTube) fronted by the pitlane legend that is Ted Kravitz. That show will air at 2100 UK each evening, (2200 CET, 1600 Eastern, 1300 Pacific).

Once Barcelona is out of the way there are two three-day testing periods in Baharain set for February. February 11-13 will have one hour of live TV coverage each day, before February 18-20 has full coverage.

What to expect from F1 testing in 2026

The first thing we should not expect is to see any Williams cars out on track in Barcelona - the team announced late last week that it will be a total no show at Circuit de Catalunya.

An official team statement explained: "Atlassian Williams F1 Team has taken the decision not to participate in next week’s shakedown test in Barcelona following delays in the FW48 programme as we continue to push for maximum car performance.

"The team will instead conduct a series of tests including a VTT programme next week with the 2026 car to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race of the season in Melbourne.”

Reigning two-time Constructors’ champions McLaren will also not be around on Monday - with Team Principal Andrea Stella revealing it will be Tuesday or Wednesday before their cars are on track.

Stella explained: "We wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible for development, because every day of development, every day of design was adding a little bit of performance.”

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Outside of that, we expect everybody to be present, with all eyes on that new Mercedes W17 in particular, and the new Ferrari SF-26 as year 2 of the Lewis Hamilton Project begins at Maranello.

We also have two ‘new’ teams on the grid with Audi taking over from Sauber and US automotive giant Cadillac coming in as a totally fresh entrant.

Testing will also see some unusual elements which we only ever see at this time of year - including 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. Teams 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.

So why is F1 testing secret in Barcelona?

Private testing means that the media will not have access to Barcelona's shakedown, and only a small crew will be admitted to film content for teams and drivers.

There will be no data or timing screens available to the public during the first test, but it seems as the main focus is for teams to gain mileage, performance and the timesheets will not be too crucial nor representative of what we will eventually see in Melbourne when practice begins at Albert Park on Friday March 6.

As for that rule around teams only being able to run for three days of five, it’s actually intended to help them. It means should bad weather impact proceedings (it is January in Europe after all), they would still have enough time to take up their allotted sessions.

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