Day 2 of first F1 2026 Bahrain pre-season test as it happened

Interestingly, Isack Hadjar briefly appeared on track for the first time today as he completed an installation lap right at the end of the session.

Hadjar had been garage-bound for much of Thursday morning after Red Bull discovered what they described as being a "routine issue during the car build".

We also just had a rouge red flag, but the timing system was showing all of the cars being back in the pits, so it looks like this was part of the FIA system checks rather than being anything untoward. 

It seems like we have a planned Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car test to round out Thursday morning. The FIA also need to do their own system checks during pre-season testing ahead of the new F1 season. 

We are into the final 15 minutes of running for the morning session. Will anybody be tempted to go for a glory run to grab the headlines just before lunch? (We expect not). 

Charles Leclerc, Ollie Bearman, Liam Lawson, and Fernando Alonso are the only drivers currently lapping the track. 

Ollie Bearman has moved his Haas up to fourth in the timesheet with a 1m37.025s. The Briton is one of five drivers to have completed over 50 laps this morning. 

All the talk over the past 24 hours has surrounded Red Bull and their supposed engine deployment advantage.

Sky Sports F1's pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz shares what he has been hearing in the paddock.

"Max was first out on track yesterday, did 136 laps, set his quickest time in the heat of the day," Kravitz said. 

"Red Bull had the aero rakes out, got all the data they needed, worked on performance.

"Max never doesn't not work on performance. Whenever he was out there, it looked like he was on top of the car.

"What was noticeable was the clipping. Once you have exhausted what you have done on your race run battery neutral mode, a little clipping light or regen light, when the car is starting to slow down.

"That comes on on the Red Bull then goes off really quickly. They are developing their modes really well and that power unit is working impeccably. It looks good."

There is still no sign of Red Bull or Mercedes emerging from their respective garages as we tick over into the fourth and final hour of the morning session.

Red Bull told us earlier that they only expected to miss the first two hours owing to a "routine issue during the car build" that has kept Isack Hadjar sidelined so far. 

At Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli managed just three laps earlier this morning before running into trouble. Mercedes' new power unit suffered a problem, which has forced the German manufacturer to replace the entire engine. 

Mercedes are aiming to make it back out for the afternoon session, when George Russell is scheduled to take over driving duties in the W17.

As well as leading the way in the timesheet, Charles Leclerc has nearly completed a half-century of laps this morning in his Ferrari SF-26. 

Carlos Sainz has backed Toto Wolff in claiming that Red Bull’s new F1 power unit is the “clear” benchmark ahead of the 2026 season.

"It's still extremely early days, but if I would have to judge by the GPS data of yesterday, right now it is true that whatever Red Bull Ford Powertrains were doing yesterday was a clear step ahead of anyone else. Not only a small step, but a clear step and it was mighty impressive," Sainz said. 

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CARLOS SAINZ BACKS TOTO WOLFF'S FEARS ABOUT RED BULL-FORD

Liam Lawson has been out this morning with what can only be described as a ginormous rake attached to the rear of his Racing Bulls car. Look at the size of it!

Just as it was yesterday, Turn 10 is proving to be a tricky corner for the drivers. Several have been seen locking up, including Sergio Perez, who was captured leaving a trail of white smoke behind his Cadillac. 

It wasn't a great start to the opening test for Aston Martin, with a "data anomaly" in the engine restricting Lance Stroll to just 36 laps on Wednesday. The Silverstone squad are in need of a better day two. 

It's Fernando Alonso's turn in the Adrian Newey-designed AMR26 today and he has completed nine laps so far with a best time of 1m31.916s, leaving him sixth on the current leaderboard. Eight drivers have set times during the opening hour and a half of running. 

Lando Norris has just lowered the benchmark with a 1m35.795s, but it's still a chunk off his 1m34.669s that set the pace on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez has come back out in the Cadillac after his earlier stoppage. His first lap time of the day is a 1m43.185s, which puts him fifth of the seven drivers to have set a time so far. 

Day one pacesetter Lando Norris has just gone fastest with a 1m36.187s. 

The McLaren driver goes 1.4 seconds clear of Pierre Gasly. 

Pierre Gasly and Ollie Bearman have been trading fastest laps in the last few minutes. 

It's the Alpine driver who is back on top of the timesheet with a 1m37.625s, having briefly lost top spot to Bearman's Haas. 

Gasly's latest lap time puts him more than a second clear of the pack.