F1 Testing Results: Bahrain timesheets as Ferrari dominate rivals

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Austria, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Testing 2026

F1 Testing Results: Bahrain timesheets as Ferrari dominate rivals

The final day of pre-season testing is underway

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 20 February 2026 17:08 Updated: 11:19

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets in Bahrain by almost a second during the final day of F1 2026 pre-season testing.

His time of 1:31.992 was the fastest recorded throughout the Bahrain pre-season test, and was set during the final hour at the Sakhir circuit.

World champion Lando Norris was second in the order, close to nine tenths slower than Leclerc in his McLaren, while four-time world champion Max Verstappen rounded out the top three.

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Mercedes seemingly struggled somewhat on the final day, with Kimi Antonelli's session ending over 90 minutes early in the morning when his W16 stopped on track, and George Russell only managing to put in a time quick enough for fourth in the afternoon.

The highest lap count of the final day, and indeed of any day of the six days of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, came from Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls car, putting in a whopping 165 laps.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin barely ran on the final day, after a statement was released by their power unit manufacturer Honda admitting that a battery issue had been found and that they would only be doing short runs on Friday.

Lance Stroll went out for six untimed laps around the circuit throughout the day, hardly the preparation that he would want heading into the season.

Antonelli's incident was the only unplanned red flag of day three, meaning the other teams were not disrupted too much in their attempts to get in as many laps as possible on the final day of testing before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

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F1 Testing Results - Bahrain Week Two - Day Three

F1 Pre-season testing results: Day three
Position	Driver	Team	Time	Laps completed
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:31.992	132 laps
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:32.871	47 laps
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:33.109	65 laps
4	George Russell	Mercedes	1:33.197	82 laps
5	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:33.421	118 laps
6	Oliver Bearman	Haas	1:33.487	88 laps
7	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1:33.755	71 laps
8	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:33.916	49 laps
9	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	1:34.149	165 laps
10	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:34.342	141 laps
11	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:34.352	66 laps
12	Esteban Ocon	Haas	1:34.494	82 laps
13	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	1:34.511	59 laps
14	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1:35.290	38 laps
15	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1:36.019	64 laps
16	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	1:40.842	61 laps
17	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	NO TIME	6 laps

When does the 2026 F1 season start?

All 11 teams will 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.