F1 Testing: Barcelona shakedown week kicks off F1 2026 with nightly Sky Sports show and highlights

F1 is back, Sky Sports F1 is back, and from Monday cars are back on track too as teams start testing their all-new 2026 challengers during a week of shakedown running in Barcelona.

It's five days of pre-season action with a difference, though, with no F1 media present at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the teams run the cars and engines behind closed doors before heading to the public tests in Bahrain next month.

But to ensure you are kept up to speed with the key information and track highlights that do come out of the shakedown week in Spain, plus all the latest need-to-know news and insight about the 2026 cars, liveries and rules, Sky Sports F1 has you covered every night from Monday 26 to Friday 30 January with five F1 2026: Barcelona Shakedown shows.

• Risks, challenges and evolution - Bernie Collins' Barcelona testing Q&A
• All the 2026 cars and liveries revealed so far - and the launches still to come
• F1 2026: Testing, calendar, line-ups, new regulations, how to watch on Sky Sports
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺

Ted Kravitz will be joined by colleagues from the Sky Sports F1 team each evening to provide a first look at the day's running, and explains: "Normally, you'd have a first test and we'll all get to see the cars.

"But the teams have decided that to allow them time to get themselves together out of the media spotlight, it's going to be what they call a closed test.

"But on every evening of the Barcelona Shakedown from Monday we'll be combing through all the little bits of information that are coming out of the test, plus showing highlights, and putting it into an easily accessible, digestible half-hour show so that you can find all of your Barcelona shakedown information in one place!"

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And there is certainly going to be plenty for Ted and his guests to discuss each night - live at 7pm on Sky Sports F1's YouTube channel or at 9pm on the TV channel - given the scale of change to have taken place in F1's technical rulebook over the winter.

"We'll have your first look of the cars with their new active aero and the front wings and the rear wings going up and down all over the track," adds Ted.

"We're going to learn about the boost buttons, the overtake modes and the recharge modes - three key phrases that are going to determine a lot of the racing this year.

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"And we're going to see the drivers back on track. That includes Lando Norris with the No 1 on his McLaren, Lewis Hamilton in the new Ferrari, Max Verstappen with a new No 3 on his car in the amazing-looking RB22, and the new Cadillac team, who've wowed everybody by getting their car ready ahead of pretty much everybody else.

"So I'm really looking forward to five days of running and you'll be able to see the first look with us each evening."

Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2026 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - No contract, cancel anytime