2026 Bahrain Pre-Season Testing – Week 1 – Day 1 Recap

The Frenchman spent the morning working through a run plan consisting of a series of baseline runs utilizing Pirelli’s C3 tire. A momentary red flag after the Alpine of Franco Colapinto stopped on track was the only pause in proceedings during the morning session (10:00 – 14:00 local), with Ocon completing 64 laps.

Focus turned to sustained running in the afternoon, sampling the C2 tire during the hottest part of the day. Later with ambient conditions cooling, lap times subsequently dropped, and Ocon recorded his fastest time of the day – a lap of 1:35.578, with his overall count of 115 laps set the second highest recorded on the opening day.

Day two of pre-season testing will see Ollie Bearman drive the VF-26.

Ayao Komatsu – Team Principal:

“Today was the first day of official pre-season testing in Bahrain, and this week we’re really focusing on the basics. With these brand new technical regulations, there is still a lot to understand about how to extract the most from these new car power units to make the most of the regulations. Next week we will dive into the detailed characteristics of our car, but for now we’re continuing to iron out everything we’ve been learning about these new regulations.”

Esteban Ocon:

“It was a good day for us. Overall, we completed over 100 laps, which is pretty solid, and a lot was learned today across a lot of topics. We’re getting the car more consistent, the way we want it, we’re making it quicker than how it was in Barcelona, and that’s nice. I wish Ollie and the team the best day tomorrow, hopefully they can have as productive a day as we had today.”