Williams F1 Team Bahrain Test Day One 11022026

By Williams Racing
February 11 2026

After missing the Barcelona Test the Atlassian Williams F1 Team would make their first test appearance on the first day of the opening Bahrain Test. We would see Carlos Sainz drive in the morning session and Alex Albon the afternoon. On a day that was all about putting in laps and starting to understand the new FW48 we would see the team complete 145 laps, the most of any team. In the morning Carlos would complete aero rake runs combined with flow viz work exaiming the front of the car. Alex would complete the same flow viz work but focused on the rear of the car. Overall it was a posiitve first day for the team on what will be a fascinating 2026 season.

 
 Williams F1 Team Bahrain Test Day One 11022026
Sainz
 
 

Vowles

James Vowles, Team Principal:
"A strong day for us in terms of getting the mileage under our belts. Our intent all the way through was just making sure we did the mileage required to learn and understand about the chassis, the power unit, and to start flushing gremlins out of the system. There will be a lot of them, and these next three days are all about getting a good foundation to work from, and we can then build performance from there. In terms of the car, what I can say is there's no vices to it, there's nothing particularly poor, but clearly we have to dig into the details.

One interesting element we’ve experienced today is that the wind is completely different to what we've had any other time that we've been here. It's an easterly, south-easterly wind which causes us a little bit of trouble, especially into turn 1 and turn 10. Otherwise, the drivers' comments so far are net positive. The balance doesn't feel as though it's too far off, and that's without any setup work whatsoever, so it gives us a good baseline to start with going into tomorrow."
 
Sainz
 
Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain | 5.412 km
 
Driver   Fastest Lap Laps
 
C. Sainz   1:38.221 77
 
A. Albon   1:37.437 68
Sainz
 
Sainz
 
Sainz
 
Albon
 
 
Sainz
 

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Williams F1 Team Bahrain Test Day One 11022026
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 11/02/2026 23:24
Williams F1
11/02/2026 23:24
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