F1 Bahrain Preseason Test 2: Day 1 Results

The first week of testing around Sakhir was nothing short of drama - whether it was Aston Martin's pace struggles or the fact that all three days had a different session winner.

While the winner of last week's day two session, Charles Leclerc, set a time of 1:33.739 to come top in the morning session, it was ultimately Oscar Piastri's McLaren that won the day with a strong performance in the afternoon.

George Russell leaves it late to take fastest lap from Oscar Piastri

It was Lando Norris who topped the standings after day one of testing last week, with a time of 1:34.669, and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri managed to get his McLaren performing nicely to kick off Week Two with a 1:34.469, exactly 0.2 seconds ahead of what Norris set the week prior.

Piastri's time stood for essentially all of the afternoon session, before a rapid lap from George Russell meant that the Australian driver's time was knocked down a rung, with Russell setting a time of 1:33.459 - which stood until the session was capped off with a mock race start.

Laps completed with just over 90 mins of the afternoon session to go...

45 Russell
39 Piastri
39 Lawson
34 Bortoleto
32 Hadjar
30 Colapinto
29 Sainz
25 Bearman
24 Hamilton
11 Bottas
7 Stroll #F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/dpqc2yTTIF
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 18, 2026

Isack Hadjar was the morning session's notable casualty, as the young Frenchman could only manage 13 laps before a water system issue on his Red Bull led to a journey back to the pits.

He was not the only driver to have reliability problems, as Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso only managed a time of 1:36.536 over 28 laps before he too had to take to the pits - with Alonso not returning after these issues with his Aston Martin, while Hadjar's car was fixed in time for the 21-year-old to compete in the afternoon session.

Isack Hadjar stepped up to the second Red Bull seat after an impressive rookie season at Racing Bulls. | Red Bull Content Pool

Only a single red flag was shown throughout the day, thanks to Aston Martin's Lance Stroll spinning his car less than an hour into the afternoon, while there was a safety check, standing start, and rolling start to end off the morning.

With just over thirty minutes to go in the session, Mercedes' George Russell set the fastest lap of the day, meaning he is the only driver on the grid to have topped two different days in testing alongside Day Three of Week One.

Charles Leclerc ended up behind Russell and Piastri with his morning lap, while Norris placed his McLaren fourth to continue his team's strong showing.

Charles Leclerc will be desperate for his first World Championship with Ferrari this season if the car performs well. | Scuderia Ferrari

Youngsters Antonelli and Hadjar were fifth and sixth, while Lewis Hamilton, who is the same age as Antonelli and Hadjar combined, ended up seventh.

Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto picked up P8 and P9, and Colapinto's fellow South American compatriot Gabriel Bortoleto was tenth in his Audi.

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

Position	Driver / Team	Gap(s)
1	George Russell / Mercedes	1:33.459
2	Oscar Piastri / McLaren	+0.010
3	Charles Leclerc / Ferrari	+0.280
4	Lando Norris / McLaren	+0.593
5	Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	+0.699
6	Isack Hadjar / Red Bull	+0.801
7	Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari	+0.840
8	Carlos Sainz / Williams	+1.654
9	Franco Colapinto / Alpine	+1.795
10	Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi	+1.804
11	Alex Albon / Williams	+2.231
12	Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls	+2.294
13	Oliver Bearman / Haas	+2.319
14	Pierre Gasly / Alpine	+2.439
15	Lance Stroll / Aston Martin	+2.515
16	Esteban Ocon / Haas	+2.959
17	Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin	+3.077
18	Nico Hülkenberg / Audi	+3.282
19	Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls	+3.310
20	Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac	+3.339
21	Sergio Pérez / Cadillac	+4.732

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