Overview
- Each team fields two cars, with a 2025 young‑driver run and a separate mule car dedicated to the 2026 tyre evaluation under FIA and Pirelli controls.
- Finalized lineups include Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson, Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz, with notable absences such as Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and George Russell.
- Lap times are not comparable because the tyre‑test cars are modified older chassis with reduced downforce and instrumentation restrictions, and the 2025 cars are driven by inexperienced drivers.
- There is no official TV or live timing, with specialist outlets providing text updates from Yas Marina during the 09:00–18:00 local running.
- The session caps a year of roughly 40 private tyre tests and focuses on confirming compound behavior for new, narrower 2026 tyres that require adapted mule cars.