F1 Bahrain Preseason Test 1: Day 3 Results

Kimi Antonelli helped Mercedes round the first week of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain strongly by finishing fastest on the final day.

The Italian set a best effort of a 1.33.669s to finish 0.249s faster than teammate George Russell, who had completed his running in the morning.

Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in the Ferrari as the top teams point fingers at each other to suggest their rivals are the fastest package.

Dramatic end to the week

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, pre-season test, Bahrain — Scuderia Ferrari

After disrupted running for a number of teams across the first two days at the Bahrain International Circuit, there were just two red flag periods on Friday, with Valtteri Bottas's first as his Cadillac ground to a halt at Turn 11 in the morning.

Then, with 11 minutes left of the session, Hamilton stopped on track at Turn 8 with an issue in his Ferrari. The seven-time champion didn't lose much, however, with 150 laps chalked up across a full day of running.

Antonelli and Russell finished on top, but Mercedes has claimed that the Briton's race simulation over 57 laps was some 28 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc's from Thursday evening. That can be explained by the difference in conditions between daytime and nighttime running, though, with any extrapolations from laptimes pure speculation at this stage.

Oscar Piastri completed more laps than anyone all week with 156 laps to his name, ending the day fourth fastest for McLaren and ahead of Red Bull duo Max Verstappen [morning] and Isack Hadjar [afternoon]. The Frenchman provided comic relief in the final hour as he pulled into the wrong pitbox, paying an unscheduled visit to the Mercedes mechanics.

Isack Hadjar makes an impromptu visit to the Mercedes pit box! 🧐📦#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/OpCULbMt8m
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 13, 2026

Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman continued Haas' strong pre-season by racking up the mileage and finishing seventh and ninth quickest, sandwiching Alpine's Franco Colapinto - the Argentine who almost crashed when forming the grid for a practice start post-session before hitting anti-stall at Turn 1.

Nico Hulkenberg was 10th as Audi's new-spec car impressed with its reliability, while Gabriel Bortoleto was 14th.

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were 11th and 13th in the Williams, a team which will be happy with how its three days have gone after missing the Barcelona shakedown last month.

Liam Lawson laid down laps in the Racing Bulls to finish 12th fastest, while Aston Martin again looked to struggle with Lance Stroll down in 15th.

Bottas and Sergio Perez were at the bottom of the timesheets for Cadillac as the American team continued its F1 education.

F1 2026 Pre-Season Testing: Bahrain Test 1, Day 3 Results

Position	Driver / Team	Gap [s]
1	Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	1:33.669
2	George Russell / Mercedes	+0.249
3	Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari	+0.540
4	Oscar Piastri / McLaren	+0.880
5	Max Verstappen / Red Bull	+1.672
6	Isack Hadjar / Red Bull	+1.941
7	Esteban Ocon / Haas	+2.084
8	Franco Colapinto / Alpine	+2.137
9	Oliver Bearman / Haas	+2.303
10	Nico Hulkenberg / Audi	+2.622
11	Alex Albon / Williams	+3.124
12	Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls	+3.139
13	Carlos Sainz / Williams	+3.517
14	Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi	+3.867
15	Lance Stroll / Aston Martin	+4.496
16	Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac	+5.103
17	Sergio Perez / Cadillac	+5.582

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