F1 Testing Results: Bahrain timesheets and laps as Mercedes pace evaporates

The first official pre-season F1 testing day of 2026 has been completed, and Mercedes' pace from the Barcelona shakedown last month appears to have evaporated.

Bahrain is playing host to pre-season testing this week, following a private shakedown last month in Barcelona in which limited data was available to fans, but Mercedes topped two of the three days in which they were running.

But this week, all three days have timings and lap counts released, as well as live coverage for the final hour being shown. And on the first day, it was world champion Lando Norris who came out on top, with a time of 1:34.669.

After Max Verstappen had topped the morning session, he finished the day in second place, behind Norris as he was in the championship race of 2025. However, the Dutchman did complete the most laps on day one, a whopping 136 in his RB22.

Meanwhile, the positivity surrounding Mercedes in the off-season did not play out on the first day of testing, with George Russell only managing sixth, and Kimi Antonelli down in 11th.

There were two red flags on day one in Bahrain, with Alpine's Franco Colapinto coming to a stop during the morning session, and Audi's Nico Hulkenberg having an issue during the afternoon. Both drivers were able to get back up and running, and completed plenty of laps, however.

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Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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