F1 Testing 2026: Bahrain dates, start times and how to watch live

F1 testing in 2026 gets under way for real in Bahrain this week with three days of on-track action scheduled as excitement reaches fever pitch.

We are now less than one month out from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, when the battle for championship glory gets under way once again.

With a new wide-ranging set of regulations sweeping into the sport, testing is even more important than before in 2026 and we have already had a five-day shakedown in Barcelona.

Now for the first time we have all 11 cars and 22 drivers (Williams, we missed you) on track this week in Bahrain this week. And here is all the detail you need.

Bahrain testing dates and starting times

Bahrain testing gets under way on Wednesday February 11 and then continues on Thursday February 12 and Friday February 13.

Each day is split into two sessions with a one-hour lunch break between. Times are as follows:

Session Two: 3pm-7pm local time (noon-4pm UK, 1pm-5pm CET, 7am-11am Eastern).

TV channel and live stream - how to watch live

Okay there is some good news here, but not an awful lot.

You will remember that the shakedown in Barcelona at the end of January was a total TV blackout - no coverage allowed whatsoever as the sport navigates to a new era with new regulations. Things are slightly better for the next three days in Bahrain - but only slightly.

Only one hour of TV coverage will be allowed each day (Sky Sports F1 will broadcast in the UK while F1 TV of course is an option).

That TV coverage each day is 6pm-7pm local time (3pm-4pm UK, 4pm-5pm CET, 10am-11am Eastern).

Is F1 testing open to fans?

If you just happen to be in Bahrain this week, the good news is you can actually get to watch a lot of the testing action live at the track.

Fans can buy tickets for Thursday (February 12) and Friday (February 13) this week, at a cost of BD10 (around £19) for adults or BD5 (around £9.50) for children aged 3-12.

In the even more unlikely event that you are in Bahrain this week AND you bought a ticket for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix before September 8 last year, you can get in absolutely FREE.

2026 F1 grid - who is driving in Bahrain testing?

So the great news is that we will have all 11 teams, and all 22 drivers, on track at some stage this week. Remember that Williams missed Barcelona completely and Aston Martin rocked up quite late - apparently they didn’t even have the time to paint their new car.

That means Lewis Hamilton will be back on track after a hectic week with rumoured new girlfriend Kim Kardashian which took him to the Cotswolds, Paris and then Super Bowl LX in California.

Also we have good news that Mercedes phenom Kimi Antonelli will be in Bahrain and at full health after being involved a car crash in San Marino.

The full driver lineup for 2026 looks like this:

Those new 2026 regs, and what to look out for in testing

The next three days in Bahrain will give us our best sense yet of how the grid might shape up in Melbourne on Sunday March 8. It is very much a new world with those sweeping new regulations coming into the sport.

As of right now, the hype is largely around Mercedes having the edge with its W17 car (though there is an ongoing battle raging about compression ratio which could yet end up in a courtroom).

McLaren (with a Mercedes power unit of course) are expected to be strong again after claiming both Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships in 2025 while Red Bull and their new Ford power unit had a pretty smooth shakedown in Barcelona.

There is of course also considerable buzz around Aston Martin, with design genius/new team principal Adrian Newey rolling out his first car since that blockbusting move from Red Bull.

Finally, there will always be hype around Ferrari at the start of any season, and after a miserable 2025 for Hamilton and Charles Leclerc all eyes are now on the SF-26.

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