Formula 1 has officially confirmed the start time for pre-season testing in Bahrain next month.

The new cars for the 2026 season will hit the track for the first time in just over a week during closed testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. The teams will hold their first training here before moving to Bahrain, where official pre-season tests will be held.

The first block of testing in Bahrain will take place between February 11-13. Races will start every day at 09:00 Kiev time and last until 18:00. Thus, each test day will consist of nine hours of track work.

The final pre-season tests before the start of the championship will be held between 18 and 20 February. The race schedule will remain the same as in the first test week.

Schedule of Formula 1 tests in Bahrain (Kyiv time)

• Day 1: 09:00 – 18:00
• Day 2: 09:00 – 18:00
• Day 3: 09:00 – 18:00

Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris has been warned by his championship mate about the expectations his new status at McLaren will bring.

After his 2025 championship, Norris will start the 2026 season as world champion. The British driver will be the first McLaren driver to try to defend his title since Lewis Hamilton.

Damon Hill, who won the 1996 championship, recalled the mounting pressure. According to him, champion authority does not always mean a real advantage within the team.

“I think the team has confidence in both drivers (Norris and Piastri). But when you become world champion, you are automatically treated differently; there is additional authority,” Hill explained.

“When I moved from Williams to Arrows, the team said: ‘We have a world champion.’ They thought I knew something special. But that authority is sometimes exaggerated. I didn’t know everything and I certainly didn’t know how to design cars.”

Hill emphasized that the true power of a champion lies not in technical knowledge but in leadership and team interaction.

“I worked with experts like Patrick Head and Adrian Newey; they were the ones who knew where to go. And the driver’s role is to be a leader and inspire the team,” Hill concluded.

According to The Race, world champion McLaren made the debut of its new MCL40 vehicle for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

With less than a week to go until the first pre-season test in Barcelona, ​​the team rolled out the car for the first time at the Woking factory. Team boss Andrea Stella personally supervised this important stage of preparation, while McLaren engineers and engine supplier Mercedes checked all the car’s systems.

Last year McLaren won a double title: the constructors’ title and Lando Norris’ first individual title. This season, the team had to simultaneously prepare the car for the new rules, without losing momentum in the championship fight.

Although the car is already ready for testing, it is not yet known when the public will see it. The official presentation is scheduled for February 9 in Bahrain, two days before public testing begins.

Meanwhile, McLaren will conduct private testing in Barcelona between January 26-30. Teams will be able to use three out of five test days.

Stella is confident that the team has retained the depth of its squad and is ready to remain among the leaders even after the big rule change in 2026.