When is every team running in first test of F1 2026?

The first of three F1 pre-season tests kick off in Barcelona next week. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

As a result of the biggest regulation shake-up in recent F1 history, three pre-season tests will take place before the opening round in Australia on 8 March.

The first of these is a collective shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.

The first test will run between 26-30 January and be held in private to enable teams and drivers to get to grips with their all-new F1 cars away from prying eyes and scrutiny of fans and the world’s media.

All 11 F1 teams are allowed three days of running out of the five-day window.

Here’s what we know so far about which teams will run when…

Williams – Missing entire test

Williams announced on Friday that they will not take part in the opening week of testing at Barcelona after encountering delays with the development of their FW48 car.

The decision means Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz will not get to drive Williams’ 2026 car until the first official pre-season test in Bahrain on 11-13 February.

“Williams F1 Team has taken the decision not to participate in next week’s shakedown test in Barcelona following delays in the FW48 programme as we continue to push for maximum car performance,” a statement from the Grove-based outfit read.

“The team will instead conduct a series of tests including a VTT [Virtual Test Track] programme next week with the 2026 car to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race of the season in Melbourne.

“We are looking forward to getting on track in the coming weeks and want to thank all our fans for your continued support – there is a lot to look forward to together in 2026.”

The significant blow to Williams’ 2026 preparations is reminiscent of when the team’s car was late to pre-season testing back in 2019. Back then Williams were in financial strife but thankfully things have since changed under the ownership of Dorilton Capital.

McLaren – To join on day two or three

McLaren will miss at the least the first day of running in Barcelona, and may even delay running their 2026 F1 car until the third day of action.

Team principal Andrea Stella explained the decision was strategic and aimed at maximising the development of the MCL40

“This was always going to be plan A,” Stella told media including Crash.net. “There’s so much of a change that we don’t need to be necessarily the first on track.

“We wanted to give as much time as possible for development, because every day of development, every day of design, was adding a little bit of performance.

“If you are early on track, you will have the reassurance of knowing what you need to know as soon as possible.

“But at the same time, it means you might have committed to the design and the realisation of the car relatively early, so you will have compromised against development time and ultimate performance.

“Obviously there will be updates pretty much for every car between testing and the first race. But we thought that, in the economy of a season, it was important to start and launch the car in the most competitive package and configuration.

“That’s why we pushed all the timing to the limit, but within a very manageable limit. We didn’t feel any urge to plan for testing on day one.”

Ferrari – To join on day two

Ferrari will join McLaren in skipping the opening day of the shakedown.

The Italian outfit are set to join the test on day two and also plan to run their 2026 car on Thursday, the penultimate day.

Ferrari are yet to decide whether to complete their third day of permitted running on Wednesday or Friday.

Speaking after the unveiling of their SF-26 challenger at Fiorano on Friday, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur confirmed: “We will start the test on Tuesday and then with the regulation we decide which days we run from Thursday but Thursday will also be on track.

“With this new regulation it will be all about improvement, learning process, development and this is why we are in love with F1.”

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc shook down the SF-26 at Fiorano on Friday. 

Audi – To start on day one

Audi intend to be ready to roll out of their garage at 9am on the first day of the Barcelona test.

This comes after they were the first F1 team to conduct a shakedown test when they ran their R26 at Barcelona on 9 January.

Explaining the decision to get out of the blocks early, Audi technical director James Key said: “This was a decision made about 18 months ago, so we kind of knew this was coming.

“It wasn’t a last minute thing. But no, we wanted to – as one of only two new guys on the block with this – you really do need a track reference. And we agreed with our power unit colleagues that we try and hit the track as quickly as we can.”

The rest of the teams are yet to announce which days they will run on, but Cadillac, Racing Bulls, Alpine and Mercedes have already conducted a shakedown with their new cars.