F1 and FIA announce 2026 testing dates and calendar change
30th June 2025Formula 1 and the FIA have confirmed dates for pre-season testing in 2026, with three separate tests, as they agree on a calendar change.
Feature image credit: Getty Images // Red Bull Content Pool
Following the announcement of the 2026 F1 calendar, which was released earlier this year, F1 and the FIA have now confirmed the dates for pre-season testing ahead of the 2026 F1 world championship.
There will be three separate tests as the teams prepare to understand their newest machines with a return to Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before heading to Bahrain.
The first test has been confirmed to take place, privately, at the Barcelona circuit at the beginning of the year on January 26 to 30. The test will be held behind closed doors meaning there will be no world coverage of the event.
They repeated a similar instance in 2022 when the latest ground-effect era cars took to the track for the first time officially. There was a three-day test in Barcelona back then too.
There will be two more, not-private, tests which will take place in Bahrain in February, both will feature three-day tests. The first Bahrain test will take place on February 11-13, followed by the final test on February 18-20.
The 2026 world championship will get underway in Australia, on March 6 – 8, at the iconic Albert Park Circuit.
In the announcement, F1 also confirmed that they had received a request from the Azerbaijan promoter, and relevant government stakeholders, to request a date change for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The sport and the FIA have agreed to move the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix from Sunday September 27, to Saturday, September 26, to accommodate a national day.
F1 confirmed that the teams involved in the championship have been informed of the change and the weekend will move one day earlier. This means Free Practice will get underway on Thursday, Qualifying will be on Friday, and the race will be on Saturday.
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