F1 Testing 2026

F1 Testing Results: Bahrain timesheets as Lewis Hamilton goes MIA after unveiling new Ferrari trick

Sheona Mountford Thursday 19 February 2026 12:14

Lewis Hamilton's second day of F1 testing at the Bahrain Grand Prix was disrupted by a lengthy delay after debuting Ferrari's new rear wing trick.

The seven-time champion was stuck in the garage for two and a half hours after he demonstrated his rotational rear wing in the morning, with the screens up as the Ferrari team worked on his car.

With nine minutes remaining of the session, Hamilton finally jumped back into the car to gain more mileage, but emerged from the morning with only five laps to his name.

Ferrari's issue during the session remains unknown, but Hamilton's standing start at the end of the session was completed without further injury to his SF-26 (and with lightning quick speed in comparison to his Mercedes and McLaren rivals).

Elsewhere on the track, Max Verstappen returned to the RB22 after sitting out of Wednesday's sessions, setting the second fastest time of a 1:33.584 and completing 56 laps. It was Lando Norris and McLaren who were quickest in the opening morning on Thursday, setting a best time of 1:33.453.

Mercedes once again looked as cool as a cucumber however, and were already practicing their pit stops on George Russell's car, even testing the eventuality of a five-second time penalty. A sure sign their testing run-plan has been a success.

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F1 Testing Results - Bahrain Week Two - Day Two

F1 Pre-season testing results: Day two
Position	Driver	Team	Time	Laps completed
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:33.453	72 laps
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:33.584	56 laps
3	George Russell	Mercedes	1:34.111	77 laps
4	Alex Albon	Williams	1:35.130	71 laps
5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1:35.263	29 laps
6	Ollie Bearman	Haas	1:35.279	69 laps
7	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:35.506	54 laps
8	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:36.959	27 laps
9	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:37.472	40 laps
10	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:39.670	5 laps
11	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1:40.193	58 laps

Who's driving for the F1 teams in Bahrain?

Bahrain F1 Testing Lineup
Team	Wed AM	Wed PM	Thu AM	Thu PM	Fri AM	Fri PM
McLaren	Lando Norris	Oscar Piastri	Lando Norris	Oscar Piastri	Oscar Piastri	Lando Norris
Mercedes	Kimi Antonelli	George Russell	George Russell	Kimi Antonelli	Kimi Antonelli	George Russell
Red Bull	Isack Hadjar	Isack Hadjar	Max Verstappen	Max Verstappen	Isack Hadjar	Max Verstappen
Ferrari	Charles Leclerc	Lewis Hamilton	TBC	TBC	TBC	TBC
Williams	Alex Albon	Carlos Sainz	Alex Albon	Alex Albon	Carlos Sainz	Carlos Sainz
Racing Bulls	Arvid Lindblad	Liam Lawson	Liam Lawson	Liam Lawson	Arvid Lindblad	Arvid Lindblad
Aston Martin	Lance Stroll	Fernando Alonso	Fernando Alonso	Fernando Alonso	Lance Stroll	Lance Stroll
Haas	Esteban Ocon	Oliver Bearman	Oliver Bearman	Esteban Ocon	Esteban Ocon	Oliver Bearman
Audi	Nico Hulkenberg	Gabriel Bortoleto	Gabriel Bortoleto	Nico Hulkenberg	Nico Hulkenberg	Gabriel Bortoleto
Alpine	Franco Colapinto	Pierre Gasly	Pierre Gasly	Pierre Gasly	Franco Colapinto	Franco Colapinto
Cadillac	Sergio Perez	Valtteri Bottas	Valtteri Bottas	Sergio Perez	Sergio Perez	Valtteri Bottas

When does the 2026 F1 season start?

After the first round of pre-season tests in Bahrain took place between February 11 and 13, the second round continues this week between February 18 and February 20.

All 11 teams will then be back in action when the 2026 season starts in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. The first race of the year takes place on March 8 at 3pm local time (AEDT), 4am GMT, and 11pm ET.

F1 Lewis Hamilton pre-season testing