AMR26 clocks first laps in 2026 livery

The moment it came together, by design. The AMR26, fresh with newly unveiled livery, has taken to Bahrain International Circuit for its first laps of pre-season testing.

Though the car's first mileage came at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during Formula One's shakedown week, Wednesday was the first time the car rolled out of the garage in its stunning fresh livery, revealed at the start of the week at Ithra on Opening Night.

Lance Stroll was behind the wheel for the first day of the first three-day test in Bahrain, getting the opportunity to familiarise himself further with the new car after driving a handful of laps back in Barcelona last month.

As Managing Technical Partner and Team Principal Adrian Newey and the team looked on, Lance headed out on track in the morning and completed 36 laps across the day. Unfortunately, the Honda team detected a data anomaly with the power unit in the afternoon, which required further analysis and limited his running.

"Today was my first proper experience in the AMR26 after only completing three laps in Barcelona," said Lance.

"We had a busy morning on track working through the run plan and the various test items. The afternoon was more limited as the team investigated a data anomaly with the PU. There's still plenty of work to do to get the car where we want it, but we'll use these two tests to learn as much as possible and keep building."

Lance is scheduled to return to the AMR26 on Friday, while Fernando Alonso will take to the track tomorrow for his first run in Bahrain.

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