The 2026 F1 season is drawing ever closer and all the teams head to Bahrain this week for the second of three pre-season tests before a final three-day session next week (18-20 February) at the same venue.
Day one of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit saw reigning world champion Lando Norris of McLaren clock the fastest time, with Max Verstappen in his Red Bull not far behind. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claimed Red Bull had “set the benchmark” with Verstappen’s displa, while the like of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Esteban Ocon (Haas) also featured highly on the timesheet.
Meanwhile, Audi turned heads with their radical new sidepod design, much narrower and more vertical than the design showcased at the car launch.
This week of testing follows a private ‘shakedown’ event that took place in Barcelona at the end of January, with every team bar Williams making an appearance. Mercedes impressed the most, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the week, although the seven-time world champion is now complaining about the upheaval surrounding his race engineer being “detrimental” to his chances of performing well.
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F1 PRE-SEASON TESTING - LATEST UPDATES
- The second of three F1 pre-season tests takes place this week in Bahrain
- Morning sessions run from 7am GMT to 11am GMT and afternoon sessions from 12pm GMT to 4pm GMT this week (Wed-Fri)
- Max Verstappen tops the timesheet in the morning session after an impressive lap in his Red Bull
- Toto Wolff says Red Bull have "set the benchmark" due to their straight-line speed
- Lewis Hamilton frustrated at race engineer upheaval at Ferrari
- Audi debut radical new feature, in big change from Barcelona 'shakedown'
Toto Wolff: Red Bull are 'the benchmark'
17:01 , Luke BakerMercedes are considered to be the early title favourites but their boss Toto Wolff has been incredibly impressed by Red Bull so far in Bahrain, calling them “the benchmark”.
“I was hoping they would be worse than they are,” Wolff said of Red Bull. “They have done a very good job.
“The car, the power unit, are the benchmark at the moment I would say. Then obviously you have Max in the car, the combination is strong.
“Look at their energy deployment. They are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else. We are speaking a second per lap, over consecutive laps.
“On a single lap, we've seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight line deployment.
“I would say that as per today, on the first official day of testing, which is always the caveat of that, they’ve set the benchmark.”
Zak Brown: Big four are still the big four
16:51 , Luke BakerMcLaren chief executive Zak Brown was asked about the current pecking order in this era of new regulations and he believes that early signs suggest it could be same old, same old.
“I think we can’t come to any firm conclusions,” hedged Brown. “But if I had to go Vegas (to bet on it), it looks like the big four [McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari] are the big four, kind of hard to tell in what order.
“Mercedes were very strong in Spain. Max has done some great lap times around here. But it kind of looks like the grid is in a similar position.”
Lap counts by team
16:32 , Luke BakerAs we alluded to, some teams laid down more impressive mileage than others today.
Here are the lap totals by team - a great shift by Williams but a disaster for Aston Martin, who battled a power unit issue.
- Williams - 145
- Red Bull - 136
- Ferrari - 132
- Audi - 122
- Haas - 115
- McLaren - 112
- Cadillac - 107
- Mercedes - 86
- Alpine - 77
- Racing Bulls - 75
- Aston Martin - 36
Final timesheet
16:20 , Luke BakerHere’s the final timesheet for day one. Lando Norris with the fastest time, just ahead of Max Verstappen.
Verstappen racked up the most laps (136) with Esteban Ocon the only other individual to clear 100. They were two of only four men to drive in both sessions however, so the combined Williams total of 145 between Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon was just as impressive
1) Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:34.669, 58 laps
2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:34.798, 136 laps
3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:35.959, 80 laps
4) Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1:35.578, 115 laps
5) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:35.602, 54 laps
6) George Russell (Mercedes) 1:36.108, 56 laps
7) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:36.433, 52 laps
8) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1:36.765 49 laps
9) Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1:36.861, 73 laps
10) Alex Albon (Williams) 1:37.437, 68 laps
11) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1:37.629 30 laps
12) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 1:37.945, 75 laps
13) Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1:38.221, 77 laps
14) Sergio Perez (Cadillac) 1:38.828, 58 laps
15) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 1:38.871, 49 laps
16) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) 1:39.150, 49 laps
17) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1:39.883, 36 laps
18) Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1:40.330, 28 laps
CHEQUERED FLAG!
16:03 , Luke BakerIt’s all over in Bahrain. The chequered flag is waved and the cars complete their final lap.
Eight hours of pre-season testing over in a flash. Lando Norris is top of the pile, with Max Verstappen second but, more importantly, all the teams got valuable mileage under their belts.
We’ll bring you the full timesheet and classifications shortly
The light fading in Bahrain
15:46 , Luke BakerIt’s approaching 7pm in Bahrain and the light has closed in, with the floodlights on.
Haas having a good day
15:33 , Luke BakerQuietly, this has been a very good day of testing for Haas. Not flashy but Esteban Ocon has racked up more than 100 laps across the two sessions and he’s getting quicker int he final knockings here.
He’s just put in his best lap of the day - a 1:35.578 to jump from a respectable sixth to an eyebrow-raising fourth, leapfrogging George Russell and Oscar Piastri. That’s less than a second behind leader Lando Norris as well.
Aston Martin suffering power unit issues
15:25 , Luke BakerWe’ve been given an explanation for Aston Martin’s lack of laps today.
Lance Stroll did 33 laps this morning and added just three this afternoon for a paltry total of 36 (by contrast, Max Verstappen has racked up 120 laps for valuable mileage).
The team have confirmed an issue with the Honda power unit the car uses.
“Our power unit test plan today with Lance went as planned in the morning, however, we detected a data anomaly this afternoon,” said Aston Martin.
“We are now proceeding with precautionary checks on the PU to understand the exact root cause before we can resume testing.”
Antonelli finally up and running
15:16 , Luke BakerAfter a frustrating afternoon waiting for a problem to be fixed with his Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli can finally get some laps under his belt on the track.
He’s on the hard tyres and clocks a lap time of 1:37.629 to slot into ninth spot.
Lewis Hamilton says race engineer upheaval 'detrimental' to his chances
15:12 , Luke BakerLewis Hamilton is cutting a slightly frustrated figure in Bahrain. He won’t have a new permanent race engineer ahead of the new season, which he has said will be “detrimental” to his chances.
In January, Ferrari confirmed his race engineer from last year’s tough season, Riccardo Adami, was being shifted to another role elsewhere in the organisation.
The team has yet to make any further official statements regarding a replacement but it is understood that Carlo Santi has been appointed on an interim basis, although Hamilton suggested there would be another switch soon.
Speaking in Bahrain, Hamilton said: “It’s actually quite a difficult period because it’s not long-term, the solution that we currently have, it’s only going to be a few races.
“So, early on into the season, it's going to be switching up again, and I’ll have to learn to work with someone new, so that’s detrimental to a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, have been through thick and thin and are calm.
“But it is the situation that I’m faced with and I’ll try to do the best that I can. The team is trying to do the best they can to make it as seamless as possible.”
Shake-up in the top 10
15:05 , Luke BakerWith conditions cooling, times are improving in Bahrain, so the top 10 have had a bit of a shake-up, with the likes of Leclerc, Ocon and Albon all moving up in the last 15 minutes or so.
Here’s how it looks
1) Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:34.669, 30 laps
2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:34.830, 116 laps
3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:35.959, 51 laps
4) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:35.602, 54 laps*
5) George Russell (Mercedes) 1:36.108, 56 laps*
6) Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1:36.373, 94 laps
7) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:36.433, 52 laps*
8) Alex Albon (Williams) 1:37.437, 50 laps
9) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 1:37.945, 75 laps
10) Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1:38.104, 48 laps
Mercedes working on car issue
14:57 , Luke BakerIt’s been a frustrating afternoon for Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli only able to complete one lap in the W17 after teammate George Russell did 56 this morning.
Mercedes say they have been fixing an issue they found as part of their planned set-up changes when switching from Russell to Antonelli and they’re still hopeful to be back out in the final hour.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin have only added three laps to their tally since the lunch break and have just 36 laps today in total. No word on what their problem is.
Lando Norris goes fastest
14:52 , Luke BakerWell, well, well. Toto Wolff said Red Bull were setting the benchmark but Lando Norris has just ensured we’ve got a new name atop the leaderboard for the the first time in a good few hours.
The world champion clock a 1:34.669, which puts him 0.161s ahead of Verstappen. He’s got 29 laps on the board and he’s now fastest.
As the daylight fades and the lights come on in Bahrain, we might get a few quicker times in this final hour and change.
Latest timesheet as Verstappen leads
14:36 , Luke BakerOk, we’ve got about 90 minutes of testing left today. Here’s the timesheet as it currently looks. Nice reading for Red Bull!
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:34.830, 108 laps
2) Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:35.581, 24 laps
3) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:35.602, 54 laps
4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:35.959, 42 laps
5) George Russell (Mercedes) 1:36.108, 56 laps
6) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:36.433, 52 laps
7) Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1:37.169, 81 laps
8) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 1:37.945, 75 laps
9) Alex Albon (Williams) 1:38.117, 36 laps
10) Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1:38.221, 77 laps
11) Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1:38.506, 29 laps
12) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 1:38.871, 49 laps
13) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) 1:39.150, 49 laps
14) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1:39.221, 24 laps
15) Sergio Perez (Cadillac) 1:39.767, 27 laps
16) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1:39.883, 36 laps
17) Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1:40.330, 28 laps
18) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) No time, 1 lap
Toto Wolff: Red Bull are 'the benchmark'
14:30 , Luke BakerIn addition to the action on track, we’ll be hearing from some of the protagonists as they talk to the media in Bahrain this afternoon.
Mercedes are considered to be the early title favourites but their boss Toto Wolff has been incredibly impressed by Red Bull so far, calling them “the benchmark”.
“I was hoping they would be worse than they are,” Wolff said of Red Bull. “They have done a very good job.
“The car, the power unit, are the benchmark at the moment I would say. Then obviously you have Max in the car, the combination is strong.
“Look at their energy deployment today. They are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else. We are speaking a second per lap, over consecutive laps.
“On a single lap, we've seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight line deployment.
“I would say that as per today, on the first official day of testing, which is always the caveat of that, they’ve set the benchmark today.”
Verstappen sets new fastest time
14:24 , Luke BakerThings are definitely moving at pace now - Charles Leclerc jumps to third with a 1:35.959 and that better than teammate Lewis Hamilton managed in the Ferrari this morning.
But that doesn’t last long! Lando Norris lays down a 1:35.581 to climb to second spot, juuuuuust quicker than Oscar Piastri this morning and not far behind leader Max Verstappen.
BUT Verstappen then improves on his time from this morning. He’s the first man to dip under 1:35 as he clocks 1:34.830! For context, that’s a mammoth 0.751s ahead of Norris. Great lap
Verstappen just short of a century but Williams clear it
14:06 , Luke BakerMax Verstappen has come back into the pits after completing 99 laps - not one more to bring up the ton, Max...? Ah, he’ll get there some time soon.
The combination of Williams drivers have reached a century between them though. Alex Albon has continued Carlos Sainz’s relentless accumulation from this morning - adding 29 laps to the Spaniard’s 77, making 106 in total.
Williams are trying to squeeze in the laps they didn’t manage by missing the ‘shakedown’ in Barcelona recently, perhaps. Interestingly, Albon has already bettered Sainz’s best lap time this morning by a tenth of a second.
Norris moving on up
13:56 , Luke BakerLet’s check in on the reigning world champion, shall we? Lando Norris, with a freshly-minted number ‘1’ on his car has taken over in the McLaren after Oscar Piastri did 54 laps this morning and set the second-fastest time.
Norris would love to match his teammate this afternoon and has just set his best time so far, a 1:37.568 to climb to sixth on the leaderboard. That’s still just under two seconds slower than Piastri for now though
Back underway
13:47 , Luke BakerThe Audi is easily cleared and we’re back underway in Bahrain.
Max Verstappen wastes no time, slotting straight back in behind his ex-Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and then overtaking the Mexican’s Cadillac on the run down to turn 4.
RED FLAG! Issue for Hulkenberg
13:45 , Luke BakerWe had one, brief red flag this morning when Frano Colapinto had issues with his Alpine and now Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi has caused a second stoppage.
Hulkenberg pulled up approaching the final two corners with those on the ground suggesting a loss of power, to which he pulled over.
Gabriel Bortoleto did 49 laps this morning in the Audi, which drew interested glances for its new-look sidepods, and Hulkenberg had done 13 this afternoon.
Will the German be able to do any more? We’ve got around 2hrs 15mins of this session left.
Leclerc up to sixth
13:29 , Luke BakerCharles Leclerc is slowly improving as he’s now up to sixth after clocking a lap of 1:37.819. That’s still 2.386s behind Max Verstappen and 1.386s behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s best time from this morning
Slow moving afternoon session
13:06 , Luke BakerIt’s a bit more slow-going this afternoon. No Mercedes, Haas, Alpine or Racing Bulls out on the track yet.
Interestingly, Lando Norris has completed six laps but not set a time yet. Max Verstappen racking up the laps though
WATCH: Every car on the Bahrain track
12:55 , Luke BakerSome video, courtesy of F1. Here’s every car on track in Bahrain today. All looking slick
Back on track in Bahrain 👊#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/5dEo5Iwl3O
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 11, 2026
First cars out on track
12:44 , Luke BakerWe have cars on the track this afternoon! Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon are both out, shortly followed by Lando Norris before Charles Leclerc joins the party and lays down a time.
A 1:40.101 from the Ferrari man, which puts him 11th, 4.7s or so off the pace of Verstappen from earlier today. He’s just feeling things out at the moment though and will improve.
Leclerc ready to try out Ferrari
12:14 , Luke BakerAfter Lewis Hamilton’s exploits this morning, it will be Charles Leclerc taking the Ferrari for a spin this afternoon.
The Monegasque looks relaxed and ready to go in Bahrain
Charles is back in Bahrain!📍🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/WTJzXDYEGu
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 11, 2026
Who is driving this afternoon?
12:07 , Luke BakerOk, here’s a full list of the drivers we’ll be seeing this afternoon. Four teams opting for the same driver as this morning but the other seven will use their second driver.
- McLaren - Lando Norris
- Mercedes - Kimi Antonelli
- Ferrari - Charles Leclerc
- Red Bull - Max Verstappen
- Williams - Alex Albon
- Aston Martin - Lance Stroll
- Audi - Nico Hulkenberg
- Racing Bulls - Arvid Lindblad
- Haas - Esteban Ocon
- Alpine - Pierre Gasly
- Cadillac - Sergio Perez
Bold signifies drivers appearing for the first time today
LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!
12:04 , Luke BakerThe afternoon session at day one of this second week of pre-season testing is officially underway. Eleven men will be taking to the track once more.
Four more hours of action after a relatively incident-free morning, barring Franco Colapinto’s brief technical issue.
We’ll have the full list of drivers imminently but no one has immediately headed out on the track.
Most laps: Williams making up for lost time
11:52 , Luke BakerFor clarity, here were the amount of laps each driver completed this morning, with pre-season testing absolutely vital in racking up the laps to get as much information about the car as possible.
Williams led the way, making up for lost time after missing the ‘shakedown’ event in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago due to “delays” with the car. Also good stuff from Racing Bulls.
- Carlos Sainz (Williams): 77 laps
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): 75 laps
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 65 laps
- Esteban Ocon: 63 laps
- George Russell: 56 laps
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 54 laps
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 52 laps
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): 49 laps
- Valtteri Bottas : 49 laps
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): 33 laps
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine): 28 laps
Lewis Hamilton handed early 2026 F1 boost with key Ferrari hiring
11:37 , Luke BakerFerrari have signed French engineer Guillaume Dezoteux from Racing Bulls ahead of the new F1 season.
Dezoteux spent 18 years at Red Bull’s junior team as head of vehicle performance but has now taken on a new role at the Scuderia, keen to rebuild after a winless 2025 campaign with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
“Today is the end of my 18-year adventure with the Red Bull family - what a ride!” Dezoteux confirmed on his LinkedIn page.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to the team, and I’m wishing them all the best in the upcoming season with the new car and the brand-new power unit.”
Lewis Hamilton handed early 2026 F1 boost with key Ferrari hiring
Morning session classification
11:13 , Luke BakerHere’s how the final timesheet looked after the morning session.
Max Verstappen leading the way in his Red Bull with the fastest lap, although McLaren and Mercedes weren’t far behind.
Carlos Sainz in the Williams and Arvid Lindblad in his Racing Bulls car were the marathon men, racking up the most laps.
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:35.433, 65 laps
2) Oscar Piastri, (McLaren) 1:35.602, 54 laps
3) George Russell, (Mercedes) 1:36.108, 56 laps
4) Lewis Hamilton, (Ferrari) 1:36.433, 52 laps
5) Esteban Ocon, (Haas) 1:37.169, 64 laps
6) Arvid Lindblad, (Racing Bulls) 1:37.945, 75 laps
7) Carlos Sainz, (Williams) 1:38.221, 77 laps
8) Gabriel Bortoleto, (Audi) 1:38.871, 49 laps
9) Valtteri Bottas, (Cadillac) 1:39.150, 49 laps
10) Lance Stroll, (Aston Martin) 1:39.883, 33 laps
11) Franco Colapinto, (Alpine) 1:40.330, 28 laps
Morning session finished!
11:10 , Luke BakerAnd that’s it for the morning session - four hours of pre-season testing done. An hour’s break, then we go again in the afternoon.
Audi debut radical new feature
11:05 , Luke BakerIt’s all eyes on the Audi sidepods this morning.
Gabriel Bortoleto has been out in the team’s R26 and it’s got notably different sidepods from what we saw in the ‘shakedown’ in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago.
Some changes were expected between tests but Audi’s update was much more radical than anticipated, replacing the more conventional sidepod inlets seen in Barcelona with a narrower and more vertical concept.
Some have compared it to Mercedes’ infamous ‘zeropods’ concept from 2022, that were ultimately a huge failure.
Bortoleto racked up 49 laps this morning and was eighth out of 11 on the timesheets, with teammate Nico Hulkenberg taking over this afternoon
Racing Bulls and Williams battling for most laps
10:52 , Luke BakerWe’ve got about 10 minutes of the morning session left and there’s not been too much movement in terms of times at the top for a little while.
British rookie Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls and Carlos Sainz in the Williams are in something of a battle to clock the most laps though.
Lindblad looks set to edge it with 75 laps to his name, three more than Sainz. Interestingly, Verstappen has done the third-most (62) but Franco Colapinto’s Alpine (28) and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin (33) are trailing badly.
Racking up the laps to get as much info about the car as possible is so important in testing.
Russell and Mercedes enjoy a solid session
10:40 , Luke BakerA solid morning for Mercedes, who have emerged as the pre-season title favourites.
George Russell is third on the timesheet (just 0.675s behind leader Verstappen), has completed more than 40 laps and have tested a number of tyres without issue.
So far, so reliable at both the ‘shakedown’ and here for the W17.
Williams and Racing Bull battling for most laps
10:37 , Luke BakerWe’ve got about 10 minutes of the morning session left and there’s not been too much movement in terms of times at the top for a little while.
British rookie Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls and Carlos Sainz in the Williams are in something of a battle to clock the most laps though.
Lindblad looks set to edge it with 75 laps to his name, three more than Sainz. Interestingly, Verstappen has done the third-most (62) but Franco Colapinto’s Alpine (28) and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin (33) are trailing badly.
Racking up the laps to get as much info about the car as possible is so important in testing.
Williams F1 boss lays out route to 2026 success: ‘We have a long way to go’
10:31 , Luke BakerWilliams boss James Vowles believes his team won’t challenge for the F1 world championship this year but insists aspects of their 2026 car are “championship level.”
Vowles opted to withdraw his team from the first pre-season test in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago, citing delays to the new car as the main reason before elaborating that he is keen to “push the boundaries” in the car design.
However, they are racking up the laps at pre-season testing in Bahrain today, at the start of a year Vowles has long been targeting as a springboard for future success, particularly with their impressive driver line-up of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
But while Vowles doesn’t expect his team to challenge for the world title, he insists they are on the right trajectory.
Williams F1 boss lays out route to 2026 success: ‘We have a long way to go’
Verstappen locks up
10:19 , Luke BakerMax Verstappen locks up going into turn 1, which sends a plume of smoke into the air but no damage done. There’s a large run-off area and the Dutchman is soon back up and running.
It’s been a good morning for the four-time world champion - he’s cleared 50 laps in his Red Bull, has had no major issues and is top of the timing sheets, with a 1:35.433.
Lando Norris says ‘giddy’ George Russell hungry to replace him as F1 world champion
10:07 , Luke BakerLando Norris has claimed winning his maiden Formula One title has fuelled a “hungry and giddy” George Russell to knock him off his world championship perch.
Norris will head into next month’s opening race in Australia with the number one on his McLaren for the first time after he held off Max Verstappen to win his maiden title at last season’s finale in Abu Dhabi.
However, it is anticipated that Norris’ McLaren team, who have won the constructors’ championship for the past two seasons, could be playing catch-up to Russell and Mercedes.
Following a huge overhaul in the sport’s regulations, Mercedes have hit the ground running, and Russell has been declared by the bookmakers as the pre-season championship favourite, a position Norris was in at this stage last year.
Lando Norris says ‘giddy’ George Russell hungry to replace him as F1 world champion
Colapinto shakes off issues
09:52 , Luke BakerFranco Colapinto had to have his Alpine put in a low loader and taken away earlier in the session, briefly causing a red flag.
But the good news is, that seems to have been just a temporary issue. He’s back out there in the A526 and has done almost 30 laps today now.
Carlos Sainz in the Williams becomes the first man to 50 laps by the way, with Arvid Linblad of Racing Bulls breaching that threshold as well shortly after
Latest timesheet
09:43 , Luke BakerHere’s the latest timesheet from Bahrain - Max Verstappen dominating.
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:35.433, 40 laps
2) Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:36.696, 28 laps
3) George Russell, Mercedes, 1:36.923, 30 laps
4) Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:37.484, 35 laps
5) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:37.588, 31 laps
6) Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, 1:37.945, 42 laps
7) Carlos Sainz, Williams, 1:38.339, 43 laps
8) Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi, 1:39.281, 24 laps
9) Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac, 1:40.317, 25 laps
10) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:40.364, 25 laps
11) Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 1:41.600, 21 laps
Who is driving today?
09:35 , Luke BakerLet’s take a step back and look at who is driving today. As a reminder, there are two four-hour sessions, with an hour for lunch in between.
The majority of teams are splitting the sessions between their two drivers but four teams - Red Bull (Verstappen), Racing Bulls (Lindblad), Aston Martin (Stroll) and Haas (Ocon) - are sticking with one man for both sessions
McLaren: Oscar Piastri (AM); Lando Norris (PM)
Mercedes: George Russell (AM); Kimi Antonelli (PM)
Red Bull: Max Verstappen (AM); Max Verstappen (PM)
Ferrari: Lewis Hamilton (AM); Charles Leclerc (PM)
Williams: Carlos Sainz (AM); Alex Albon (PM)
Racing Bulls: Arvid Lindblad (AM); Arvid Lindblad (PM)
Aston Martin: Lance Stroll (AM); Lance Stroll (PM)
Haas: Esteban Ocon (AM); Esteban Ocon (PM)
Audi: Gabriel Bortoleto (AM); Nico Hulkenberg (PM)
Alpine: Franco Colapinto (AM); Pierre Gasly (PM)
Cadillac: Valtteri Bottas (AM); Sergio Perez (PM)
Hamilton on the up
09:21 , Luke BakerIt was a slow start for Lewis Hamilton this morning, he locked up a couple of times and wasn’t challenging near the top of the leaderboard.
However, he’s currently putting in a decent stint in Bahrain, racking up the laps (he’s moved beyond 30 for the day) and moving up to fourth on the timesheet. He’s still more than two seconds behind Verstappen with his 1:37.588, mind
Brief red flag
09:09 , Luke BakerWe briefly had a red flag when Franco Colapinto’s Alpine got stuck at the side of the track, seemingly with a technical issue. The car was eventually moved out of the way on the back of a low loader and the session has continued.
Alpine were the last team to go out on track in the session - waiting 45 minutes - and then suffered an issue shortly after. Not great for them...
The times at the top are slowly being lowered with Max Verstappen now the fastest with a lap time of 1:35.433. That’s more than a second quicker than Oscar Piastri’s McLaren in second and George Russell’s Mercedes in third
Fernando Alonso reveals F1 retirement plan as late start ‘bound to’ cost Aston Martin
08:40 , Luke BakerFernando Alonso has given an update on his F1 retirement plans as he enters his age-45 season with Aston Martin.
Alonso, who turns 45 in July, has made a record 425 starts in F1 and will take to the grid this year a full quarter of a century after his debut in the sport, which came at the Australian Grand Prix in March 2001.
The two-time world champion Spaniard was in Saudi Arabia on Monday for the launch of Aston Martin’s 2026 livery, ahead of the latest round of pre-season testing which takes place in Bahrain on Wednesday.
Fernando Alonso reveals F1 retirement plan as late start ‘bound to’ cost Aston Martin
Here's Ferrari!
08:30 , Luke BakerThis is Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari heading on to the track a little earlier
Good day for the Racing Bulls
08:25 , Luke BakerThis is a good day for Racing Bull so far. Arvid Lindblad, the rookie Brit, has just gone back to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:37.945.
They’ve also completed 30 laps so far - by the far the most of any team. Williams are the only others to even clear 20
New cars looking sharp
08:20 , Luke BakerThis is a fascinating first proper look at all the new 2026 cars on track. I’ve got to say, the liverys are glinting spectacularly so far in the Bahrain sun
Kimi Antonelli escapes unhurt after car crash as Mercedes release statement
08:10 , Luke BakerMercedes driver Kimi Antonelli escaped “unhurt” after being involved in a car crash near his home.
The F1 team said the 19-year-old Italian’s car was the only vehicle involved in the incident in San Marino on Saturday night.
The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that an investigation had been opened after an exclusive Mercedes supercar crashed into a road-side retaining wall, with the vehicle suffering “extensive damage”.
Kimi Antonelli escapes unhurt after car crash as Mercedes release statement
Piastri goes fastest
08:09 , Luke BakerA reminder that the times themselves don’t particularly matter in pre-season testing but it’s interesting to see who is going quicker than their rivals.
Oscar Piastri is the latest man to move top of the leaderboard as he clock 1:37.964 in the newly-liveried McLaren MCL40.
Russell tops the leaderboard
07:58 , Luke BakerRussell now takes the top spot by a whisker, clocking 1:39.419. He’s the early favourite for the title this season with Mercedes thought to have dealt with the new regulations best.
Arvid Lindblad is less than a tenth of a second slower and he is the first man to complete 10 laps today, in his Racing Bull. Ocon and Sainz have also reached double figures, while Franco Colapinto has done his first laps in the Alpine –the final man out on track about 45 minutes after everything began.
Ocon fastest and Lindblad second
07:53 , Luke BakerEsteban Ocon in the Haas has currently posted the fastest lap time (and is the only man to go sub 1:40) with a 1m 39.634s on soft tyres, while rookie Brit Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls car is second after clocking 1:40.069 - also on softs
Williams join the party
07:25 , Luke BakerPlenty of cars out on track in Bahrain but one particularly interesting one is Carlos Sainz in the Williams.
At the ‘private shakedown’ track day in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago, they were the only team not to show up as they still worked on the car.
So this is our first chance to see the FW48 in action and Sainz is putting it through its paces.
Hopes are high for a decent season, after coming fifth in the Constructors’ Championship last year but are they already behind the 8-ball?
Max Verstappen out on track
07:12 , Luke BakerAs we mentioned, teams will have four hours to test out one of their cars, then an hour’s break for lunch before another four hours.
As soon as we get the green light in Bahrain, Max Verstappen heads out in his Red Bull. The four-time world champion is sporting some aero rakes as well
Can Lewis Hamilton win the 2026 title?
06:55 , Kieran JacksonHeading into his 20th consecutive year in the sport, Lewis Hamilton has witnessed his fair share of regulation changes in Formula 1. The most recent, in 2022, saw the Briton’s era of domination at Mercedes abruptly end. As such, his move to Ferrari last year marked the start of a new chapter. Something fresh, decked in red.
Yet even Hamilton has acknowledged, as pre-season testing gets underway this week in Barcelona, that this year’s regulation shake-up is the biggest he has ever seen. For all 11 teams, the sense of the unknown is palpable as they gather data and crunch the numbers ahead of the first race in Australia on 8 March.
Hamilton endured a chastening first year with Ferrari. No wins, no podiums (for the first time in 19 F1 seasons) and, by the end, a figure of utter demoralisation both on the track and in the media pen. The 41-year-old, in what was billed as the sweetest of transfers to F1’s most fabled team, suitably labelled 2025 his “worst season ever.”
But the only way is up, right? It’s a clean slate for all the teams and, after a campaign to forget, Ferrari will be desperate to be right back up the top of the leaderboard, challenging for race victories and, ultimately, world championships.
But at this early stage, are Ferrari well-placed to launch a title challenge?
Can Lewis Hamilton challenge for F1 title? Everything we know about 2026 Ferrari car
What are the timings?
06:50 , Kieran JacksonThis week’s event is a three-day test, from Wednesday-Friday.
The morning session takes place from 7am-11am (GMT), followed by a one-hour lunch break, before the afternoon session from midday-4pm (GMT).
F1 testing LIVE
06:46 , Kieran JacksonThe 2026 F1 season is drawing ever closer and all the teams head to Bahrain this week for the second of three pre-season tests.
A ‘private’ shakedown event took place in Barcelona at the end of January, with every team bar Williams making an appearance. Mercedes impressed the most, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the week. Aston Martin also shocked onlookers, with a car designed by Adrian Newey featuring a number of unorthodox elements.
McLaren, with world champion driver Lando Norris, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be among those gearing up for the new campaign at the Bahrain International Circuit, with the first race of the season in Australia on 8 March.
This test, the second of three with another three-day session next week in Bahrain (18-20 February), is also critical for new teams such as Audi and Cadillac, making their long-awaited debuts in the sport.
