Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli not only set the quickest lap time during the last day of the opening Bahrain pre-season testing, but pipped Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Oscar Piastri during the race simulations. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo delives his latest analysis.
Persistent timing‑system crashes throughout the final day of Bahrain testing, combined with Red Bull’s decision not to complete a race simulation, mean that the overall long‑run picture remains incomplete.
However, the simulations carried out by Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, and Kimi Antonelli still provide enough information to form an early assessment of race‑pace trends.
All three drivers completed multi‑stint race simulations on Friday afternoon, although Antonelli began his run roughly half an hour later than Hamilton and Piastri. Despite the staggered start times, the data allows for a meaningful comparison between Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren.
Stint 1 – Ferrari and Mercedes closely matched
The first stint was completed on the C3 soft tyre by both Hamilton and Antonelli, while Piastri ran a shorter opening phase. Kimi Antonelli completed 16 laps with an average time of 1m40.128s while Lewis Hamilton’s first stint was a lap longer with an average time of 1m40.280s.
By contrast, Oscar Piastri completed only 11 laps during the first stint of his race simulation, achieving an average time of 1m40.947s.
Hamilton began the stint with slightly stronger initial pace, but Antonelli maintained his lap times more consistently across the run. The difference between the two drivers was small enough to suggest that Mercedes and Ferrari are closely matched on high-fuel, soft‑tyre performance. Piastri’s average time placed McLaren clearly behind the two front‑running cars in this phase.
Stint 2 – Mercedes excels
The second stint produced the clearest separation between the teams, although Antonelli’s data is incomplete due to the timing‑system failure.
Hamilton completed 17 laps with an average time of 1m38.929s while Piastri was forced to elongate his second stint after his short opening run. The Australian completed 20 laps on the medium tyre with an average time of 1m39.604s.
Due to the timing-system failure, only the opening 12 laps of Antonelli’s middle stint could be recorded. The Italian achieved an average time of 1m38.547s during this 12-lap stint.
Even with only 12 recorded laps, Antonelli’s average pace on the hard tyre was noticeably stronger than Hamilton’s. This suggests that Mercedes may hold a slight advantage over Ferrari when running on the hard compound.
Hamilton’s Ferrari remained competitive, but the gap indicates that Mercedes may have the more stable package on the C1 compound. Piastri’s medium‑tyre stint naturally produced slower times, but the deficit reinforces the impression that McLaren is currently a step behind the two leading teams.
Stint 3 – Hamilton impresses
Only Hamilton and Piastri completed a third stint, and both runs were shortened by the timing issues. Antonelli also started his last stint, but his race simulation was cut short when Hamilton stopped on track on the last, 57th lap of his race run.
Hamilton completed 6 laps on the medium tyre with an average time of 1m37.461s while Piastri, who started the race simulation earlier than his two rivals, completed 18 laps on the hard tyre with an average time of 1m38.472s.
Hamilton’s brief medium‑tyre run produced the fastest average of the afternoon, although the short length of the stint limits the conclusions that can be drawn. Piastri’s longer hard‑tyre stint was consistent but again placed McLaren behind Ferrari and Mercedes.
