What we learned from Friday’s testing at the 2026 Bahrain GP in Malaysia

“It’s funny that they call it the Bahrain Grand Prix,” smiled Arvid Lindblad after the second free practice session at Sepang, “because the way of driving is very similar.”

Here, Lindblad was referring to the level of tire degradation around the Malaysian venue, F1’s first visit since 2017, and his status as a proxy for Bahraini organizers to keep their race on the calendar. Bahrain, of course, is known for its rough asphalt; the original track surface from 2004 remains in place and has become increasingly abrasive over the years – to the point where it is known to be resistant to tires.

A quick glance at Sepang’s surface instead demonstrates a similar, if not higher, level of roughness (“high macro”, in technical parlance) due to its well-aged nature. This, combined with the humidity, low-grip surface and track temperatures of over 60°C experienced during FP2, put the tires to the test.

“It’s just a lot of management, there’s a lot of degrees,” Lindblad continued, reflecting on his very first day of racing at the Sepang circuit. “But it’s nothing stupid. It’s a lot of degree, but in a decent way. It’s not a weird degree, I think it’s a completely normal level.”

We can understand this to mean something like “yes, it damages the tires, but it should be fairly predictable.” This is something the engineers can work with and, with the benefit of sifting through today’s data and that accumulated during FP3 tomorrow, the tire strategy should fall into place for the best race plans. It shouldn’t be about surprise “cliffs” defining Sunday’s race, but rather a clear elevation change around which drivers can shape their contributions and which should lend itself to strategic variations.

This would be welcome, given the recent string of low-downgrade races that have effectively locked races into a pattern of one-stop strategies and where track position has become the determining factor. This time, strategists can make their money by outwitting their counterparts, rather than ringing the proverbial “box now” bell during a virtual safety car period.

A difficult circuit at Sepang produced significant tire degradation during FP1 and FP2

Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images

In terms of overall pace, it’s hard to read at this point – and lap times were 4.5 seconds off Pirelli’s pole simulations before the weekend. There is still time to overcome this, but it is also true that the threat of rain (increased from 70% to 90%) was very present on the weather radars and truncated the tests on soft tires. However, it soon became apparent that the clouds were dissolving and leaving the area south of Kuala Lumpur relatively intact except for a few arrows and dots.

Max Verstappen led the way in FP1, but was limited to the medium tire in FP2 as Red Bull prioritized a race to bank data on a harder compound. Unsurprisingly, teams didn’t want to exhaust their stock of hard tires and potentially run out of options on Sunday; we can expect the C2 to feature prominently during the race.

Charles Leclerc duly took first place in the second session ahead of Isack Hadjar by a tenth, while Lando Norris took third as McLaren overcame an incredibly quiet FP1. Not that the timesheets bothered Fred Vasseur, who recognized the task at hand rather than choosing to get lost in lap times: “I’d rather be fit than not, but what is true is that it will be very much about the evolution of the track, that we are trying to anticipate what the track will be like tomorrow, and that’s a challenge for us, but for everyone, I think.”

“Compared to the previous events, Madrid, Monza, Baku, where we were on the low degree side, this one is a huge degree side, and this race pace will be mainly based on degradation. We have to focus on that.”

So what does this race pace look like so far? Fortunately, the rain has stopped – so we have some data to explore as we explore the teams’ long-term simulations in the second half of FP2.

Long average series of FP2

Leclerc found the rhythm in FP2, although qualifying simulations were rare as rain threatened to hit

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Perhaps the surprise here is that at this point Mercedes is ahead of its “Big Four” rivals – even with its new update package. George Russell’s long stint was run on soft tires, of a similar length to Verstappen’s long stint on medium tires, but this is not entirely due to tire wear; instead, the Mercedes started the stint a little slower than the Red Bull.

According to Bradley Lord, deputy team principal, the updates provided more downforce in high-speed corners, but there were still moments of understeer and frontal instability to be addressed. Moreover, he added, the diversity of corners could push the competitive order towards “a sort of Hungarian table” – one in which Mercedes may not have shown its best against McLaren and Red Bull.

McLaren didn’t have an easy day, however, as FP1’s performance seemed well behind those of its most immediate rivals – but recalibrating the MCL40’s torque after discovering the circuit was much tougher than expected seemed to bring the team back into line. It was a touch behind Red Bull, who looked assured in mid-range runs from Verstappen and Hadjar during the afternoon. While degradation will define proceedings on Sunday, the Milton Keynes team must be the most quietly satisfied.

Among the midfields, Audi seemed to have a head start on Alpine from the start, but the two drivers were on different programs and so it’s a little harder to navigate the Renault-owned team’s data; Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto made similar progress in medium-soft during FP2.

Aston Martin’s placing is somewhat surprising, but Fernando Alonso’s stint was also shorter than that of his main rivals and therefore did not entrench himself in the levels of degradation present throughout the day. Extrapolating slightly, we’d expect him to drop more consistently into the 1’47s and be behind the Racing Bulls – and potentially the Haas – in terms of race pace.

Then there are the Williams, who expected to struggle with the long combined corners common around Sepang, and the Cadillacs at the back. Fortunately for Valtteri Bottas, who endured a miserable weekend in Baku, he appears to be back on pace and completed a quicker stint on soft tires than Sergio Perez.

Lindblad and Bortoleto battled on track in FP2 – the Audi seemed faster throughout the races

Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images

Teams will need to open their ‘How to Maintain Your Racing Tires’ manuals overnight, particularly at the rear axle, as the circuit is ‘rear limited’ in nature. Long turns put a lot of lateral load on the rear tires and, if a driver starts to slide, it can really impact the tire surface. This, coupled with thermal degradation and hysteresis of the tire (when it undergoes repeated load cycles and thus generates excess heat), will make it incredibly difficult for teams.

At the moment many teams believe they are on the verge of a three-way stop, although McLaren strategist Randy Singh believes degradation levels would have to be very high to consider managing the loss of pit stop time given the length of the pit straight.

This is all very well balanced as is. Perhaps a few teams will discover the secrets of managing tire degradation overnight and find the required balance at the rear without compromising too much on front stability – so expect a bit of simulator work in the factories, with updated figures for surface roughness and temperatures.

Two stops or three? Pit stops could be frequent on Sunday…

Photo by: Srinivasa Krishnan

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