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The ins and outs - and back in, and out again, and back in again - of testing. Over the next two weeks, you’ll see the cars drive in and out of the garage plenty of times, but before that hotly anticipated first time, we’ve compiled an easy-to-understand guide to cover the basics of pre-season testing.

With Formula 1 undergoing one of its biggest-ever rules resets, pre-season testing has never been so important, as teams look to get up to speed with the new regulations and assess their new machinery in a real-world scenario, after 20 months of designing, building, and simulating the 2026 cars.

We’ve done our fair share of Formula 1 tests, but if this is your first, then you’ve come to the right place. From where and when, to why, and what that metal fencing is hanging off the car, this is your beginner's guide to Formula 1 testing.

What is pre-season testing?

If you’re a fan of football, the NFL, Rugby or the NBA, then testing is our equivalent of a pre-season-friendly schedule.

So, like how Liverpool played AC Milan last July, or the Philadelphia Eagles played the Cleveland Browns the following month, we’ll head off for some warm-weather testing in Bahrain. The aims are also pretty similar. It’s a good chance to get the whole team back up to speed, and it’s also great for supporters who have been starved of racing action since the end of the season.

For those not interested in other sports, think of it a little like cooking. If you’re hosting a dinner party, you might try making the main dish a few days beforehand to perfect the recipe, trial different ingredients and quantities, and maybe find a wine pairing.

Got it – so what are you cooking up?

The MCL40, our freshly built 2026 Formula 1 challenger. We’ve got our fresh ingredients ready, we now need to try them out.

What do you test?

For starters (pun not intended), they need to check that everything works and is in order… So, you know those checks that you should always do on your car every week, that you actually only do every couple of months? The windscreen wiper fluids, oil levels, tyres, etc.? Well, F1 has their own versions, and our team does them religiously. All pretty basic checks, but vital ones, nonetheless.

Many of these were completed at the recent Pre-Season Shakedown in Barcelona, but you can never be too safe, so we’ll be going over a lot of them again, just to be sure.

However, the main aims are to find performance and expose issues, improving reliability. There are all sorts of ways to do this, but a big part of testing is data gathering, which can help the team to work out how the actual on-track data correlates with the data they’ve gathered from the simulator. The closer the match, the closer we are to extracting our car’s full potential.

The team will try a multitude of different setups to work out what works best on the MCL40 across different fuel levels and tyre compounds, and to find out how far we can push it in different scenarios.

How much time do you have to test?

Every team gets the same amount of official pre-season testing time. This year, we’ll all get six days at the Bahrain International Circuit, on 11-13 February and 18-20 February. This means we’ll head into the 2026 season with three times as much pre-season track time as we’d normally get, following the three-day Shakedown in Barcelona.

This is due to the regulations reset, with F1 adding six additional days to the pre-season programme to allow teams more time to properly learn and assess their brand-new machinery.

A filming day will also be conducted beforehand on Tuesday, 10 February, with Lando and Oscar sharing driving duties.

The days in Bahrain will take place between 07:00 and 16:00 (GMT), with an hour’s break halfway through each session. The time is split evenly between drivers, with Oscar and Lando getting a maximum of three days each in the car across the two Bahrain tests.

The schedule for the first test has been assigned, while our plans for Pre-Season Testing 2 will be announced shortly.

Bahrain Filming Day schedule

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing 1 schedule

Bahrain Pre-Season Testing 2 schedule

How do you gather data?

In all sorts of ways. Performance data can be collected from various sensors on the car, which measure everything from speed and aerodynamics to the G-forces created during cornering and braking and the car’s distance from the ground. In a race, cars feature around 300 sensors, but in testing, this number is much, much higher. There are different types of sensors for different jobs, but that’s an article for another day.

Do the cars go all out?

At some point across the three days, it’s likely that most teams will aim to set a qualifying-style run to assess their maximum performance and test out reliability, but this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll get a true picture of who is good and who isn’t, because these runs could come at different times of day on different track conditions.

Are there any benefits for the driver?

Absolutely! Nothing compares to the real thing, so although Lando and Oscar have spent hours learning the new cars on the simulator, the chance to get out and drive them will be massively important.

The 2026 cars mark a significant shift from their predecessors. “The philosophy of the car is completely different”, Oscar summarised, after driving the MCL40 for the first time at the Barcelona Shakedown.

The new cars adhere to a completely different aerodynamic concept, with active aero and less reliance on ground effect. They are also lighter and more agile, which will impact their responsiveness, especially when changing direction.

Additionally, there will be greater emphasis on the driver from 2026, as F1 moves away from its dependence on downforce and automated driver aids to produce wheel-to-wheel racing. Instead, drivers will be given more freedom to make in-race decisions, while several new modes will give them more flexibility to influence the car themselves.

Pre-season will provide vital track time for drivers as they look to get up to speed with all the changes, while also giving them a chance to share their thoughts on the cars and their technical setup, which will feed into the team’s short and long-term development plans.

Do you look at other teams?

Our full focus is on ourselves and ensuring we’re ready for Round 1, but we’re just as nosey as the rest of you and will glance a sideways eye at our competitors to get an idea of what they’re doing.

Why is the car covered in scaffolding and paint?

Scaffolding, metal fencing, braces, grills - aero rakes have been called many names in the past, but they do play a key role. You might see teams use several different aero rakes throughout testing, some very easy to spot, and some very difficult to see. But (apart from obstructing our view of the cars) what do they do?

You’ll most likely see them installed directly behind the front tyres or on the rear of a car. They feature a series of sensors and are used to measure the air pressure over the car.

For similar reasons, you’ll also see the cars covered in flow-vis paint. Created from a mixture of fluorescent paint powder and paraffin oil, the mixture dries as the car picks up speed and air flows through the bodywork, leaving fine, detailed patterns for the team to assess.

Both techniques are done as part of data gathering to see whether the airflow matches what we saw in our simulations and confirm it is working correctly.

Why does everyone keep asking if teams are “sandbagging”?

We could do an entire article on strange-sounding F1 terminology, but sandbagging is amongst the most common you’ll hear in testing. In short, this is when teams deliberately don’t show their true lap time potential. They could do this for several reasons, but most often, it’s to hide how good their car truly is from other teams.

On the other end of the spectrum, teams could perform what is referred to as a “glory run,” which is when they make the car as light and as fast as possible to set a lap time that is faster than could realistically be achieved. It’s rarely seen these days, but could be done by teams to impress potential partners, or purely to boost morale in the garage.

Cool! Can I watch?

You can! Testing doesn’t tend to make for the greatest racing spectacle on the planet, but with a brand-new season on the horizon and a lack of (on track) F1 action over the past two months, it always draws plenty of attention. It does depend on where you live, but the test will be shown by major broadcasters in all of the key markets.

To find out more about the upcoming regulation changes and to follow the build-up to the 2026 Formula 1 season, stay close to the official McLaren Racing website, app and social media channels, where we’ll be covering all of the action.