By Finley Nelson
The second and final week of Pre-Season testing for the 2026 season took place this week at the Bahrain International Circuit. This was every team’s final chance to learn more about their 2026 challengers before heading to Melbourne for the first round of the season in two weeks’ time.
Wednesday – DAY 1
George Russell topped the overall timings on Wednesday with the fastest lap of the test up to that point, a 1:33.459, just 0.010 ahead of Mclaren’s Oscar Piastri. The Briton also completed the most laps of any driver with 76 on the board.
Charles Leclerc finished the morning session on top with a 1:33.739 in the hotter conditions before handing the car to teammate Lewis Hamilton for the afternoon session. Lando Norris followed the Monegasque driver with a 1:34.052, the second fastest time of the earlier session.
As the temperatures began to drop in the afternoon session, so did the lap times. Russell and Piastri managed to eclipse Leclerc’s time to secure the top two in day 1’s timings.
Whilst many drivers continued to experience lockups, the day only saw one red flag stoppage due to Lance Stroll beaching his car in the gravel. As he braked for turn 11, the Canadian lost the rear of his AMR26, which sent him across the corner’s long run off and into the gravel.
As the day came to a close, the FIA and teams tested a new race start procedure for the first time. After meeting with teams this week, the FIA came up with the new starting sequence which consisted of two formation laps before lining up on the grid for a race start simulation.
Thursday – DAY 2
It was Kimi Antonelli who topped the overall timings on Thursday with a 1:32.803. The Italian set his fastest lap during the final hour of the day and was followed closely by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who set a 1:32.861 earlier in the afternoon session.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed the most laps of any driver with 139 as he took control of the RB22 for the entire day. Whilst Mercedes achieved the highest lap count of the eleven teams for the second day in a row with 156 laps.
Reigning champion Lando Norris surpassed Russell’s lap from Wednesday to top Thursday morning’s timing sheet. The McLaren driver set his 1:33.453 within the session’s first hour, before Verstappen set a 1:33.584 to finish the morning in second.
It was a slow start to the day for both Cadillac and Ferrari. F1’s newest team spent the first two hours of the morning in the garage for an unknown reason, before managing to complete 58 laps with Valtteri Bottas behind the wheel in the remaining two hours. While Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton only completed 5 laps in the entire morning session, limiting valuable running time for a team who are looking to return to the top in 2026.
Even with limited running, Ferrari shocked the whole paddock with their new rear wing innovation. When Hamilton activated the active aero, the F1TV team spotted that the top of the rear wing flipped upside down before making a 180-degree turn to its usual state when the active aero is turned off. When used in a race or qualifying scenario, this feature could give the Maranello based team an advantage over their competitors.
Aston Martin’s struggles continued into Thursday as the team brought out the only red flag of the day. Fernando Alonso was forced to bring his AMR26 to a stop at the exit of turn 4 after the car had lost power just after exiting turn 3. This stoppage brought an end to the team’s running for the day after managing to complete 68 laps beforehand.
Following the red flag, Verstappen and Piastri were trading lap times at the top of the timing sheet before focussing on longer runs. Antonelli took Piastri’s top spot in the final hour of the day, giving Mercedes top honours for the second consecutive day.
Friday – DAY 3
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc continued Ferrari’s good run of form to top the timings with the fastest lap time of testing. The Monegasque set a 1:31.992 in the final hours, a lap 0.879 faster than Lando Norris who ended the day in second.
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad ended the day with 165 laps completed, the most of any driver. Lindblad was in the car for the full day, which allowed him to get important mileage ahead of his F1 debut in two weeks’ time.
Leclerc also ended the morning session on top for the second time this week with a 1:33.689. Day 2’s overall fastest driver Kimi Antonelli finished the session in second, his time being 0.229 slower than Leclerc’s.
However, the Italian brought out the only red flag of the day halfway through the earlier session. He was forced to bring the W17 to a halt on the straight separating turn 10 and 11 due to a suspected gearbox issue.
Following Aston Martin’s stoppage on Thursday, Honda released a statement on Friday morning which stated that due to a “shortage of power unit parts” and a “battery related issue”, Friday’s run plan will be “very limited and consist only of short stints”. The team set their first lap of the day minutes before the morning session ended with Lance Stroll at the wheel. With no lap time on the board, they had only six laps completed, the least of any team which largely consisted of out-laps.
As the track descended into darkness, teams began to focus on qualifying style runs with Norris, Verstappen and Russell all setting faster times. Although nobody could match Leclerc who continued to set faster times throughout the session and ended the test on top, giving fans hope for the season ahead.
F1’s 2026 pre-season testing ended with one final practice start, something which teams have needed to adapt to this week. The highly anticipated season gets underway in a fortnight at Albert Park, where all rumours and predictions will come to an end and the contenders for the title will be revealed.
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