George Russell ensured Mercedes remained at the top of the timesheets as the final week of preseason testing got underway in Bahrain on Wednesday.
The third and final preseason test is taking place over three days at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of the opening race of 2026 in Australia on March 8.
Russell’s best lap — a 1:33.459 — represented the fastest time of any driver during testing in Bahrain this preseason, but was only 0.010 seconds faster than McLaren driver Oscar Piastri in second place.
Comparing testing lap times come with the usual caveats over unknown fuel loads, engine modes and differing conditions during the day, but a clearer competitive order is expected to emerge this week.
As was the case last week, Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull appear to be the top four teams, albeit without enough evidence to pick a clear favourite.
Russell’s time was set on the C3 compound tyres in the final hour of the session after the sun had set and the floodlights had come on. Piastri also set his time on the C3 tyres, albeit roughly 90 minutes earlier in the day as the sun was dipping below the horizon.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made it three different teams in the top three positions with a time 0.280 seconds off the pace set by Russell’s Mercedes. Leclerc’s time was set in the heat of the morning session, when track conditions tend to be less favourable, before an issue on the Ferrari limited the running of teammate Lewis Hamilton in the better conditions in the afternoon.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar set the sixth fastest time overall, 0.791 seconds off the pace of the lead Mercedes, but sat out of a large part of the morning session while Red Bull worked on an issue with his car. He finished the day with a relatively low lap count of 66 and has just one morning left of testing on Friday before heading to Australia for the first race.
Williams driver Carlos Sainz led that battle behind the top four teams with the eighth fastest time and an effort 1.654 seconds off Russell’s best. Sainz’s lap was 0.141 seconds clear of the Alpine of Franco Colapinto in ninth and 0.150 seconds faster than the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto in tenth.
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Liam Lawson was 12th overall for Racing Bulls, 0.640 seconds off Sainz, with Oliver Bearman’s Haas 13th fastest and 0.665 seconds off the Williams.
Aston Martin’s difficult start to the new regulations continued as a Honda engine issue limited Fernando Alonso to 28 laps in the morning and Lance Stroll added just 26 laps in the afternoon. Stroll caused the only red flag of the day when he spun at Turn 11 and beached his car in the gravel.
His best lap time was 2.515 seconds shy of Russell’s fastest time, representing an improvement on the four second gap Aston Martin had to the front of the field at last week’s test, but still leaving the team some way off the front of midfield.
Cadillac set the slowest time of the 11 teams on Wednesday, with Valtteri Bottas 3.339 seconds off Russell and 0.824 seconds off Stroll’s best effort.
Wednesday’s test session ended ten minutes early to allow the FIA to trial a new start sequence that allows extra time for drivers to prepare their cars for when the lights go out.
Making a clean getaway has been complicated this year by the need to spool the car’s turbo with the V6 engine rather than the battery driven MGU-H, which has been removed under the new regulations.
The procedure trialled on Wednesday adds an extra five seconds between the moment that the last car arrives on the grid and the first of the five lights illuminating.
Although not all cars made a perfect start, the new process appeared to give drivers enough time to make a getaway without triggering their car’s anti-stall system.
The final two days of preseason testing will take place in Bahrain on Thursday and Friday before the teams head for Australia and the first race of the season on March 8.
Day 1 of Bahrain Test Two: Timesheet
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George Russell, Mercedes, 1:33.459, 76 laps
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Oscar Piastri, McLaren, +0.010, 70 laps
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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +0.280, 70 laps
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Lando Norris, McLaren, +0.592, 54 laps
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Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, +0.699, 69 laps
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Isack Hadjar, Red Bull, +0.801, 66 laps
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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, +0.840, 44 laps
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Carlos Sainz, Williams, +1.654, 55 laps
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Franco Colapinto, Alpine, +1.795, 60 laps
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Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi, +1.804, 71 laps
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Alex Albon, Williams, +2.231, 55 laps
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Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, +2.294, 61 laps
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Oliver Bearman, Haas, +2.319, 42 laps
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Pierre Gasly, Alpine, +2.439, 61 laps
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Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +2.515, 26 laps
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Esteban Ocon, Haas, +2.959, 65 laps
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Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, +3.077, 28 laps
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Nico Hulkenberg, Audi, +3.282, 49 laps
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Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, +3.310, 75 laps
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Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac, +3.339, 35 laps
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Sergio Perez, Cadillac, +4.732, 24 laps
