Mercedes concluded the first three‑day pre‑season test of 2026 with a commanding display, locking out the top two positions on the final day in Bahrain. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on Day 3 of the opening pre-season testing.
Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time of the entire test with a 1m 33.669s, edging out team mate George Russell and giving the Silver Arrows an encouraging early benchmark as the sport adapts to its radically revised regulations.
Russell had topped the morning session with a 1m 33.918s, but Antonelli lowered the standard in the afternoon despite Mercedes losing additional running while the team worked on the W17. The Italian rookie completed 61 laps and continued to impress with his composure and speed, while Russell added 78 laps to Mercedes’ growing data bank.
Lewis Hamilton finished the day in third place after completing a full programme for Ferrari. His best lap of 1m 34.209s left him just over half a second behind Antonelli, and he spent much of the day focusing on longer runs and tyre behaviour.
Hamilton’s session ended prematurely when he stopped on track in the closing minutes, but Ferrari still logged more than 150 laps with the seven‑time champion at the wheel.
Oscar Piastri enjoyed another productive outing for McLaren, running in both sessions and completing a remarkable 161 laps, the highest total of the day. His best time of 1m 34.549s placed him fourth overall. Behind him came the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, with Hadjar continuing to speak positively about the team’s new power unit as he settled into his testing duties.
Haas split their day between Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, who finished seventh and ninth respectively, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto slotting into eighth after a strong day that saw him surpass two race distances.
Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top ten for Audi, giving the team a solid baseline as they continue to familiarise themselves with their first in‑house F1 challenger.
Further down the order, Alex Albon endured a challenging end to the day as several drivers struggled with braking stability in the late‑afternoon conditions.
The Thai driver finished 11th, ahead of Liam Lawson and Williams team mate Carlos Sainz. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto followed in 14th, while Lance Stroll placed 15th for Aston Martin after admitting the team is currently “around four‑and‑a‑half seconds off the pace.”
Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas triggered an early red flag when his car came to a halt, but the team resolved the issue and returned him to the track before Sergio Pérez took over for the afternoon. Pérez completed more than a race distance as Cadillac continued to gather crucial reliability data.
Mileage was a key focus across the field, and several drivers delivered standout totals. Piastri led the way with more than 150 laps, while Hamilton, Colapinto and Lawson all exceeded two race distances, giving their teams a wealth of information to analyse before the second test.
As the first week of 2026 testing concludes, the competitive picture remains incomplete, but Mercedes’ pace, Ferrari’s consistency, and McLaren’s mileage all stand out as early markers. With another test still to come, teams will now turn their attention to refining setups, improving reliability, and unlocking the complex new power‑unit and aero systems that define the 2026 regulations.
