Preparations for the new F1 campaign are ramping up as official pre-season testing continues in Bahrain.
After a five-day private shakedown in Barcelona at the end of January, all 11 teams are back in action as the Bahrain International Circuit hosts two, three-day official pre-season tests over the next two weeks.
The first of which takes place between 11-13 February, before a second is held on 18-20 February.
Testing takes place between 7am and 4pm with a one-hour lunch break each day.
Twice during the Formula 1 pre-season have drivers compared the 2026 cars to Formula E in a disparaging tone towards the all-electric series. While there is no problem with drivers expressing themselves, Formula E’s lack of response shows a lack of backbone that continues to plague its perception as a legitimate championship in the wider motorsport world…
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Liam Lawson was the busiest driver on Friday morning, racking up 84 laps in his Racing Bulls.
Valtteri Bottas recovered from Cadillac's early stoppage to put 37 laps on the board, though that was the fewest managed by any driver.
Racing Bulls - 84
Mercedes - 78
McLaren - 73
Haas - 70
Ferrari - 69
Williams - 68
Alpine - 64
Red Bull - 61
Audi - 60
Aston Martin - 54
Cadillac - 37
| 2026 F1 Bahrain Pre-Season Test 1: Day 3 (11am) | |||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m33.918s | 78 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m34.209s | 69 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m35.341s | 61 |
| 4 | Ollie Bearman | GBR | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m35.972s | 70 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m36.390s | 73 |
| 6 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m36.874s | 64 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m37.186s | 68 |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m37.238s | 84 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m37.536s | 60 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m38.423s | 54 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m38.772s | 37 |
George Russell led the way on Friday morning at the Bahrain F1 test for Mercedes.
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The chequered flag is out and George Russell ends the final morning of the first Bahrain test fastest in his Mercedes, ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari.
Safe to say Mercedes and Ferrari will be happy with their work in this session heading into the lunch break.
Lewis Hamilton, Gabriel Bortoleto and Carlos Sainz come out for the final few minutes.
Oscar Piastri and Lance Stroll dive into the pits. And then there were three.
We are now into the final 10 minutes of the session and five drivers are out on track. They are Ollie Bearman, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas.
Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto is the latest driver to improve their time. It's a significant personal improvement on soft tyres, but the Brazilian stays ninth, three and a half seconds off the pace.
Everyone is out on track bar George Russell and Carlos Sainz with 20 minutes left of the morning session.
Oscar Piastri shuffles up to fifth in the timesheet with his latest lap - a 1m36.390s - which leaves the McLaren driver 2.472s off the pace set by Mercedes' George Russell.
Fernando Alonso reportedly threw his gloves in anger after completing his first laps in Aston Martin’s 2026 F1 car yesterday.
According to Spanish F1 journalist Antonio Lobato, Alonso was furious when he got out the AMR26.
“He gets out of the car, throws away the gloves; they’re not where they wanted to be, not even close," Lobato observed.
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REVEALED: FERNANDO ALONSO'S ALLEGED FURY AT ASTON MARTIN
On the subject of lappery, it is George Russell who has racked up the most mileage of any driver so far today with 77 laps in his Mercedes W17. That's well over a race distance, with the Bahrain GP only 57 laps long.
It is not a surprise to see Mercedes keeping busy as they look to make up for lost time on the second morning. The German manufacturer had to carry out a complete power unit change after encountering engine gremlins that limited Kimi Antonelli to just three laps.
Lewis Hamilton has racked up a half-century of laps so far this morning in his Ferrari. The seven-time world champion has a full day behind the wheel of the SF-26 today.
Bottas is back out lapping in his Cadillac and he's just improved his time. It's a 1m38.772s from the Finn, who stays 11th.
| 2026 F1 Bahrain Pre-Season Test 1: Day 3 (10am) | |||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m33.918s | 62 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m34.209s | 47 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m35.341s | 41 |
| 4 | Ollie Bearman | GBR | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m35.972s | 34 |
| 5 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m36.874s | 45 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m36.899s | 46 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m37.186s | 54 |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m37.238s | 59 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m38.251s | 43 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m38.423s | 37 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m40.281s | 11 |
Still just install laps for Bottas right now. Suggests Cadillac is still having a few teething issues.
The answer to that is... no.
And he's back out again. Will we get a sustained run this time?
And back in again...
Bottas is back out again.
And he's back in the pits. So, just an install lap for Bottas for now.
Typically, as I say that, a wild Bottas has appeared! Good job by Cadillac to get whatever the issue was fixed and the car back out with 90 minutes left in this session.
No sign of Bottas yet since his stoppage earlier on. Just the eight laps for Cadillac at this stage.
We've already had two hours of running and it is Carlos Sainz leading the way in the mileage charts, lapping the Bahrain International Circuit over 40 times already in his Williams.
At the other end of the table, it's Valtteri Bottas, who managed just eight laps before his Cadillac conked out. We have not seen the Finn back in action since.
Williams - 44 laps
Racing Bulls - 41 laps
Mercedes - 35 laps
Alpine - 34 laps
Red Bull - 31 laps
Ferrari - 31 laps
McLaren - 27 laps
Audi - 26 laps
Aston Martin - 24 laps
Haas - 21 laps
Cadillac - 8 laps