Kimi Antonelli kept Mercedes at the top of the timesheets on the penultimate day of preseason testing in Bahrain after lowering the overall benchmark lap time to a 1:32.803.
Antonelli was 0.058 seconds clear of the time set by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the same C3 compound tyres earlier in the day, while Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, 0.359 seconds off the pace of Antonelli.
Lewis Hamilton’s final scheduled day of testing was interrupted by an issue that kept his Ferrari in the garage for a large part of the morning session. By the end of the day he had a total of 78 laps with the fourth fastest time overall – 0.605 seconds off Antonelli.
Despite the issues in the morning, Ferrari will be buoyed by Hamilton’s two practice starts at the end of both sessions. The FIA has invited all teams to take part in practice starts at the end of sessions this week after concerns were raised about the extra time needed to perform a clean getaway with the new 2026 power units.
In all three practice starts conducted so far, drivers have had an extra five-seconds to spool their turbos before the lights go out, and on every occasion Ferrari-powered cars, which are believed to have a smaller turbo, have made visibly better starts than their rivals.
At the end of the afternoon session, Hamilton lined up in 10th place on the grid — with drivers leaving spaces between each other to avoid collisions — and overtook four cars on the run down to Turn 1, including Verstappen who started from pole position.
Ferrari also caused a stir in the morning session when it debuted a new rear wing with a novel approach to F1’s new active aerodynamics regulations. To reduce energy-sapping drag on straights, cars are fitted with moveable front and rear wings that can be activated on designated straights around the lap.
Most teams have opted for a system that resembles last year’s DRS overtaking aid, but on Thursday the Ferrari car debuted an upper flap that rotates through 180 degrees so that the upper element is effectively upside down when straight-line mode is activated. Ferrari switched back to its more conventional wing for the afternoon session, but is expected to run the new design at certain races this year.
The ultimate fastest times from testing can be misleading due to differing fuel loads, engine modes and track conditions, but Thursday’s times underlined the widely held belief that Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari are all in the mix as the top four teams.
Further down the order, Alpine continued its solid preseason form with the sixth fastest time for Franco Colapinto –1.015 seconds off Antonelli and 0.169 seconds faster than fellow midfield rival Nico Hulkenberg in the Audi. Esteban Ocon set the fastest time for Haas in ninth place overall, ahead of the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson in tenth and the Williams of Alex Albon in 11th.
Sergio Perez set Cadillac’s fastest time of testing with a 1:35.369 in the afternoon, putting the all-new team 2.566 seconds off Antonelli’s benchmark. The team completed 108 laps between its two drivers, marking a significant improvement on Wednesday’s effort of 59 laps.
Aston Martin endured another difficult day of reliability issues as its nightmare start to the year continued. Fernando Alonso completed just 68 laps before a terminal issue stopped the car on track and prevented the team from running for the rest of the afternoon. His fastest time up until that point was 4.669 seconds off Antonelli.
Week 2, day 2 lap times:
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Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:32.803, 79 laps
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Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:32.861, 86 laps
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Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:33.162, 139 laps
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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:33.408, 78 laps
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Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:33.453, 72 laps
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Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 1:33.818, 120 laps
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Nico Hulkenberg, Audi, 1:33.987, 73 laps
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George Russell, Mercedes, 1:34.111, 77 laps
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Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:34.201, 58 laps
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Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 1:34.532, 106 laps
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Alex Albon, Williams, 1:34.555, 117 laps
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Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi, 1:35.263, 29 laps
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Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:35.279, 69 laps
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Sergio Perez, Cadillac, 1:35.369, 50 laps
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Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:37.472, 68 laps
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Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac, 1:40.193, 58 laps.
