Three days in the desert: A complete recap of F1’s first 2026 Bahrain test
- Mia Wallace
- 23 hours ago
- 9 min read
Written by Mia Wallace, Edited by Marit Everett
Who’s on the front foot and who’s already chasing? A full recap of F1’s first three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Under the hazy skies of Sakhir, the months of anticipation leading up to the 2026 Formula One season have finally ended. Beginning the 11th February, all eleven F1 teams took to the Bahrain International Circuit for the opening week of pre-season testing; three days of data gathering, experimentation, and the first hints of what’s to come when the lights go out in Melbourne next month.
After a sequence of reliability tests, costly technical errors, and high-speed escapades, there is no shortage of data for the teams to reflect on. Before the grid regroups for the second round of testing next week, here’s a comprehensive look back at everything that unfolded during the opening phase of pre-season running.
Day 1: 11th February
Day 1 in Bahrain offered the first real clues about who would hit the ground running and who still had their work cut out for them. All eleven teams ran on the first day, with most electing to have their two drivers share duties between the morning and afternoon sessions. Red Bull, Racing Bulls, Aston Martin and Haas took a different route, deciding to run only one driver the full day.
While some teams delivered notably strong performances, with McLaren’s 2025 World Champion Lando Norris topping the time sheets, the day was far from tidy. Lock-ups, oversteer, and off-track adventures were plentiful throughout the grid. The 2026 challengers are far more angsty than in years prior, with a strong tendency to snap mid-corner.
This was noted by Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona testing a few weeks ago, and was evident on Wednesday as the drivers fought to correct lock-ups. Hamilton was also one of the many victims of intense lock-ups, with his Ferrari taking a dramatic spin early into Turn 1. Other drivers echoed this struggle, with many lock-ups occurring into the harsh braking zones of turns 1 and 8.
There were two stops on the day, with Alpine’s Franco Collapinto bringing out a red flag early, and Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg coming to a rolling stop in the afternoon. Apart from these two abrupt pauses, things ran generally smoothly for the other nine teams. Of course, mistakes are to be expected in the early stages of testing, especially with the large set of new regulations.
Max Verstappen made quick work of the morning session, clocking a session-leading time early on of 1:35.433. With Red Bull being one of the few teams to run one driver for both sessions, Verstappen put up a commanding 136 laps, awarding him with the most laps of the day from a single driver. Despite his efforts, it was ultimately Norris who took the top slot on the day, with the Briton clocking a 1:34.669. Verstappen was followed by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, a positive result for the Italian team searching for answers after a subpar 2025 season.
Aside from the top finishers, there was still plenty of action across the day. After missing the shakedown in Barcelona a few weeks prior, all eyes were on Williams in anticipation of how they would perform during their first laps of the new era. In the debut of their FW48, Carlos Sainz put in 77 laps, with his teammate Alex Albon managing 68. With a combined 145 laps, Williams finished the day with the most laps of any team, effectively silencing the worries that their challenger wouldn’t hold.
Cadillac, the new kid on the block, continued their strong campaign fresh off of their innovative livery reveal at the Super Bowl. The veteran driver pairing of Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas put in 107 laps, emphasising the “aggressive” approach the team is taking, as stated by executive engineering consultant Pat Symonds during the lunch break between sessions.
Over in the Mercedes garage, optimism was tempered by early setbacks. Despite the team putting on a dominant performance in Barcelona a few weeks ago, they were met with several issues on Day 1 in Bahrain. Tricky car balance led to challenges with brake locking, as well as poor traction and inconsistencies on track.
Following George Russell’s morning sessions, Kimi Antonelli spent the early part of his afternoon in the garage troubleshooting suspension issues. While the Italian eventually made it onto the track, he was only able to run on two sets of the hardest tyres. Mercedes engineer Andrew Shovlin commented on some of the early struggles the team ran into on Day 1.
"We're still learning how the W17 behaves and clearly have a bit of work to do to get back in the right window.
"Thankfully, we've got two more days of running this week and are not short of ideas, so hopefully [we] can take a good step forward tomorrow."
Despite some of the challenges the teams faced on the first day of testing, that’s exactly what these sessions are for. Day 1 was the perfect time to work out some of the pre-season jitters and better prepare for the continued days of testing to come.
Day 2: 12th February
Day 2 brought another busy day in Bahrain, with a fair share of drama as multiple teams ran into early hiccups. The difficulty of the new regulations continued to be a factor, as drivers spent much of the day fighting the car for rear-end grip in places that used to be handled with ease. A heavy lock-up from Russell in Turn 10 created a nail-biter, as Norris found the nose of his McLaren nearly colliding with the rear of Russell. Technical delays kept former rookies off the track during the morning sessions, and red flags barred the drivers from track time.
While issues plagued parts of the grid, the second day of testing wasn’t without its bright spots. Ferrari and McLaren continued their solid performances from Day 1, with Leclerc setting his Ferrari with the fastest time of the day in 1:34.273. He was followed by Norris, who claimed the second spot despite early red flags. Haas’ Ollie Bearman rounded out the top three, displaying the consistency of the Haas. All three drivers surpassed the 100-lap milestone and were among several drivers who raced both the morning and afternoon sessions.
Mercedes endured another tricky day, running both drivers as each encountered separate challenges. While Russell struggled with lock-ups, his teammate Antonelli had a severely delayed morning session. As a result of a power unit issue, the Italian would ultimately finish P16 after only completing three laps. Russell was thankfully able to get back at it in terms of long-term running, with him ending the afternoon session with 54 laps.
Over in the Red Bull garage, positivity began high following a strong day for Verstappen on Wednesday. Unfortunately, that joy was short-lived, as Isack Hadjar missed the entirety of the morning session due to a hydraulic issue. While Verstappen would handle some of the testing the next day, the loss of mileage still proved to be a large setback. Additionally, the Dutch driver shocked the paddock with comments on the frustration of driving under new regulations, not holding back on his verdict post-testing.
“To drive, not a lot of fun to be honest,” he said of the new cars, in Bahrain on Thursday.
“I would say the right word is management, but, at the other end, I also know how much work has been going on in the background, also, from the engine side, for the guys.
“So, it’s not always the nicest thing to say, but I also want to be realistic. As a driver, the feeling is not very F1-like. It feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids.
“For me that’s just not Formula One. Maybe it’s then better to drive Formula E, right? Because that’s all about energy efficiency and management.”
Verstappen has stated frequently in the past that he will only stay in F1 for as long as he is having fun. He’s said that in this stage of his career, winning simply does not outweigh having fun in his books.
Verstappen’s comments were later relayed to the reigning world champion, to which Norris countered that he enjoys the challenges brought by the 2026 F1 cars. The Papaya driver was also quick to add that, as F1 drivers, they have “nothing to complain” about.
"A lot of fun. I really enjoyed it," Norris said. "So, yeah, if he wants to retire, he can retire. F1 changes all the time. Sometimes it's a bit better to drive, sometimes it's not as good to drive.
"We get paid a stupid amount of money to drive, so you can't really complain at the end of the day. Any driver can go and find something else to do. It's not like he has to be here, or any driver has to be here.
"It's a challenge, but it's a good, fun challenge for the engineers, for the drivers. You have to drive it in a different way, understand and manage things differently, but I still get to drive cars and travel the world and have a lot of fun. So, nothing to complain about."
Three red flags plagued the day, further emphasising the rigour of the new regulations. Pierre Gasly was forced to pull over his Alpine out of Turn 1, marking the second stoppage for Alpine after Colapinto’s stop on Wednesday. Reliability evaded the pink and blue team early, causing eyebrows to raise at the internal structure over at Alpine.
In the afternoon, Bottas’ Cadillac lost a mirror, causing another red flag as a result of debris on the track. Fortunately for the American team, they were able to continue running and complete the day.
Day 2 may not have provided all the answers, but it certainly sharpened the questions. With one day left to go, teams prepared to push for more clarity, confidence, and clean data.
Day 3: 13th February
The final day of round one in Bahrain offered greater clarity. Teams that struggled early began piecing things back together, while others were left clinging to small wins after a week riddled with setbacks.
Mercedes, who excelled in Barcelona but got off to a slow start in Bahrain, had a solid day overall. Russell was quickest in the morning, with Antonelli having the fastest time overall at 1:33.669. Russell’s quick time from the morning awarded him P2 overall on the day behind his teammate. When asked about the struggles Mercedes had faced earlier in testing, the Briton was completely transparent about where the team stood in Bahrain compared to Barcelona, calling it a “reality check” for the team.
“Barcelona was very smooth, and probably smoother than we actually anticipated, in terms of reliability, in terms of performance. We’ve got to Bahrain, and in both regards we’ve taken a step back.”
The prancing horse continued on its positive streak, with Hamilton taking the wheel for a full day of testing, finishing third overall. Ferrari has arguably been one of the strongest teams across the week, with them having few hiccups and consistent reliability between both drivers. Despite having to stop on track in the closing minutes, Hamilton had much to be proud of after posting a best time only half a second slower than Antonelli.
The second half of the Papaya boys, Oscar Piastri, handled a full day of testing. The McLaren driver ended fourth overall, emphasising the reliability of the car. Finishing right behind the Australian, Red Bull’s Verstappen and Hadjar continued to demonstrate the consistency of their new power unit.
The Haas pairing of Ocon and Bearman finished seventh and ninth, respectively, with Colapinto of Alpine in between finishing P8. Despite finishing in the top ten, Colapinto was forced to stop during the extra formation lap.
His pause on track only added to the growing number of stops the team had over the week. While the Alpine remained stagnant, the rest of the pack completed their formation lap before heading back to the pit lane. Down the way, Hülkenberg concluded the top ten for Audi.
Over at Williams, Albon finished 11th following a series of lock-ups and running off track. His teammate, Sainz, finished P13. Where Williams lacked in raw speed, they made up for in terms of reliability.
Aston Martin, a team forecasted to perform well under star designer and Team Principal Adrian Newey, rounded out the first week of testing with many eyebrow raises. For starters, their car was noticeably slower than their challengers, with driver Lance Stroll commenting that the team is around “four-and-a-half seconds” off the pace.
Elsewhere, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto claimed P14, followed by American newcomer Cadillac. Bottas caused yet another red flag in the morning after his Cadillac came to a halt on track. After a brief stop in the garage, Bottas was able to come back out and complete his session before handing the car off to Pérez in the afternoon.
That wraps up the opening three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain. After long runs, late-night debriefs, and plenty of question marks, teams now have a brief window to dissect the data and refine their packages before heading back out on the Bahrain circuit from February 18–20.
While we learned a lot over the last three days, it’s important to remember that testing results shouldn’t be taken as a cookie-cutter indicator of how teams will perform during the season. That question won’t be answered until the chequered flag falls in Australia.
