Day 3 of second F1 2026 Bahrain pre-season test as it happened

News on McLaren and Lando Norris, reported by Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins.

"I have spoken to [team principal] Andrea Stella and he said he saw something in data that they thought they could get to the bottom of," Collins said. 

"They took time over the lunch break to sort things out. It looks like they have done a water-system bleed so maybe something with the cooling.

"They want Lando Norris out there in a car that can do continuous runs, with maybe a bit of qualifying sim towards the end of the session."

Max Verstappen with an improvement to go third with a 1m33.916s, 0.686s behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. 

We are an hour and a half into the afternoon session and there is still no sign of world champion Lando Norris. 

The Briton is due to take over from Oscar Piastri for the final four hours of pre-season testing but he remains in the McLaren garage. 

McLaren are working on his car but the fact this is in full view and not shielded by screens suggests it is not a major issue. 

Whether this is planned or not, you would expect to see Norris doing some running by now.

We've had some more racing going on. George Russell attempted a late move down the inside of Pierre Gasly into Turn 1 but the Alpine driver was having none of it as he just stayed ahead. 

Only George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Arvid Lindblad and Ollie Bearman currently lapping on track. 

George Russell has also improved his best time with a 1m34.999s, lifting his Mercedes up to P7 in the timesheet. 

Good news for Mercedes, with George Russell already out and lapping. So not a huge amount of time lost for the Silver Arrows. 

Russell immediately sets a lap time which puts him 10th on the leaderboard. 

Lance Stroll is yet to set a lap time for Aston Martin. He has gone out a couple of times now to open up a lap, before bailing into the pit lane on each occasion. 

The AMR26 looks very unstable out there, with Stroll not enjoying a smooth ride. 

Max Verstappen and Ollie Bearman have also joined the action. Verstappen sets his first time of the day to go 10th with a 1m38.428s. 

Lance Stroll is the first and only driver out on track this afternoon as he puts more laps aboard his Aston Martin. 

McLaren: Lando Norris 

Mercedes: George Russell 

Red Bull: Max Verstappen 

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc

Williams: Carlos Sainz

Racing Bulls: Arvid Lindblad

Aston Martin: Lance Stroll

Haas: Ollie Bearman 

Audi: Gabriel Bortoleto 

Alpine: Pierre Gasly

Cadillac: Valtteri Bottas 

It's Esteban Ocon who wins the practice start at the end of Friday morning. 

Interestingly, however, McLaren's Oscar Piastri actually looked to get the better launch of the pair, and wasn't that far adrift despite starting behind the Ferrari-powered Haas. 

Boooo! Charles Leclerc has stayed in the garage and it looks like only three cars will take the practice start. They are McLaren's Oscar Piastri, the Ferrari-powered Haas of Esteban Ocon, and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar. 

We are now running through the end-of-session FIA system checks, which range from yellow flags to virtual safety cars and a red flag. 

We will also get to have another look at a practice start just before lunch, which will be exciting. Can Charles Leclerc replicate the rocket launches his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton enjoyed yesterday?