Overview
- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the opening Bahrain session with a 1:35.433, as Alpine’s Franco Colapinto caused a brief red flag during recovery of a stopped car.
- The first of two three-day Bahrain tests is underway from February 11–13, with a second from February 18–20 before the season opener in Melbourne on March 8.
- New regulations debut active front and rear wings, remove DRS, and elevate electrical output to about 350kW with Boost and Overtake modes central to energy deployment.
- Coverage remains limited to the final hour each day of week one, and teams run only one car, forcing drivers to split roughly 12 hours of track time per test.
- The FIA is reviewing power‑unit compression‑ratio interpretations after rival manufacturers questioned Mercedes’ approach, with officials seeking a resolution before the season.