F1 Bahrain Preseason Test 1: Day 2 Results

Charles Leclerc set the headline time on the second day of the first Bahrain Formula 1 preseason test.

The Ferrari driver set a best time of 1:34.273s to finish over half a second faster than nearest challenger Lando Norris, the McLaren driver ahead of Haas' Oliver Bearman.

Laptimes at this stage of pre-season are, however, largely irrelevant as teams continue to prepare for the early races by gathering vital data.

Mercedes and Red Bull drama

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, pre-season test, Bahrain — Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes | Mercedes-Benz Media

The first hint of weakness from Mercedes and Red Bull came in the morning as neither team recorded a lap time. Both cars were confined to the garage for the entirety of the first four hours, taking vital time away from Isack Hadjar and Kimi Antonelli.

While the Italian was circulating early on, a power unit issue was discovered, and that led to a full change. It followed a suspension issue that limited the Silver Arrows to 85 laps on Wednesday.

Red Bull also faced gremlins with its new power unit, built in-house in collaboration with Ford, though it too was able to gather data late in the day.

There were five red flags across the day: two caused by Cadillac, with Sergio Perez stopping on track in the morning before debris came from Valtteri Bottas' car in the afternoon, while Alpine's Pierre Gasly also stopped - the second time the A526 has done so in two days.

A systems test also halted action on two occasions, with the red flag test following similar test runs of the virtual safety car and safety car procedures.

Looking in on Day 2 in Bahrain 🤩👀#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/NaB8MNlYnJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 12, 2026

Leclerc was fastest on the day and was able to complete a full Bahrain Grand Prix simulation under the floodlights, with Norris the only driver within a second of the Monegasque's best effort.

Bearman has looked to be setting the fastest time of the day with two purple sectors to start a lap late in the day, only to lose time in the final part of the tour, though he was third in the Haas.

George Russell gave Mercedes track time in the afternoon after the early issues and ended fourth fastest, with Hadjar following suit in fifth for Red Bull.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg enjoyed Audi's best day of running thus far and finished sixth and 10th, while Gasly also enjoyed a largely positive day - ticking off the most laps at the time of his on-track issue.

Valtteri Bottas was eighth in the Cadillac ahead of Alex Albon, while Arvid Lindblad was 10th on his last involvement of the week for Racing Bulls.

Carlos Sainz was 12th in the Williams with Liam Lawson 13th after his first taste of this week's action, while Fernando Alonso was 14th in his only day of the test.

Perez was 15th fastest, and Antonelli set no time.

F1 2026 Pre-Season Testing: Bahrain Test 1, Day 2 Results

Position	Driver / Team	Gap [s]
1	Charles Leclerc / Ferrari	1:34.273
2	Lando Norris / McLaren	+0.511
3	Oliver Bearman / Haas	+1.121
4	George Russell / Mercedes	+1.193
5	Isack Hadjar / Red Bull	+2.288
6	Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi	+2.397
7	Pierre Gasly / Alpine	+2.450
8	Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac	+2.551
9	Alex Albon / Williams	+2.956
10	Nico Hulkenberg / Audi	+2.993
11	Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls	+3.197
12	Carlos Sainz / Williams	+3.319
13	Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls	+3.744
14	Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin	+3.975
15	Sergio Perez / Cadillac	+4.380
16	Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	No Time

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