The drivers in action during second day of testing in Bahrain

The Bahrain International Circuit hosts the second day of winter testing, with drivers preparing for what is the second official day of a new era in F1, but who will be in action?

Thursday is the second of a three-day pre-season test in Sakhir, with teams having already confirmed driver line ups and schedules. Throughout the test, drivers will alternate duties and hope to complete a similar number of laps by the end of Friday

Running from 8am to 5pm CET, each day is split into a morning and afternoon session, both of which last roughly four hours with a one-hour lunch break separating them.

Max Verstappen completed a full day of testing yesterday, completing 136 laps across both morning and afternoon sessions. As a result, new Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar will take over duties and hope to do the same today.

The young Frenchman will be hoping his second day in Bahrain goes better than his second outing in Barcelona, where he spun out in wet conditions during the afternoon session.

On Day 1, Verstappen's lap times impressed, leading Toto Wolff to claim Red Bull are "very much" the early benchmark in 2026.

Meanwhile, at Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso will hope to improve on what was a troublesome first day in Bahrain, as he takes over full-day duties from Lance Stroll, whose AMR26 flagged a data anomaly just 36 laps in and had to undergo precautionary checks.

Alonso is set to officially drive the Newey-designed 2026 Aston for the very first time today, having caught the attention of the rest of the grid with an aggressively designed, blacked-out AMR26 on the final day of the private Barcelona shakedown.