Report: A day of data gathering complete in Sepang
Plenty of running under our belts at the first day of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia
Published
02 OCT 2026
Est. reading time
2 min
After nine years away, Atlassian Williams F1 Team were finally back on track at the Sepang International Circuit, with our first day of running at the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
It was a traditionally hot and humid afternoon on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, and with no recent data to rely on, there was no time to waste as both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon hit the track as soon as the green light came on in FP1.
Alex, who is competing closer to his home nation of Thailand than ever before this weekend, completed 22 laps in the opening hour, with his best time of 1:40.321 placing him P17. Carlos clocked up 25 laps of Sepang in FP1, with a 1:40.605 seeing him P20 on the timing tower.
As FP2 approached, so did the threat of rain, with race control forecasting a 90% chance of precipitation during the session. This prompted a flurry of early activity as teams prepared for the possibility of wet-weather running.
A short early stint on both the medium and soft tyres came and went, leaving Carlos in P17 with a 1:39.930 and Alex in P20 following a 1:40.221.
However, the forecast rain never arrived, and all teams then began extended race simulations as the threat of wet weather dissipated. Carlos notched up 31 laps in FP2, with Alex completing one fewer.
With 108 laps under our belts, there’s plenty of data to analyse as we head into qualifying on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Full reaction to follow.
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