F1 Bahrain Preseason Test 2: Day 3 Results

The second week of testing has shown that Mercedes has an extremely strong car, as George Russell set the fastest time on day one while youngster Kimi Antonelli copied his teammate by placing himself first on day two.

When taking into consideration the other headlines from this week, including Aston Martin's continued struggles with pace and reliability, and Ferrari's impressive rotating rear wing reveal yesterday, it has certainly been a fascinating few days in Bahrain's second week of testing.

With more emphasis on qualifying and race pace simulations compared to previous days, which teams and drivers came out on top?

Qualifying simulation reveals the real pace of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari

Charles Leclerc could be in for a great season if all of the Ferrari strength rumors are to be believed. | Scuderia Ferrari

It was a day of domination for Charles Leclerc, who not only topped the morning session with a time of 1:33.689 over the course of 80 laps — the Monegasque driver attempting to get as much usage out of the Sakhir circuit as possible today.

Leclerc also set the quickest time in the afternoon session, thanks to some final hour qualifying runs that saw him shaving off hundredths upon hundredths off of Kimi Antonelli's winning lap on day two - bringing the fastest time so far this year down even further from a 1:32.803 to a 1:31.992.

The only racing-related red flag of the day was brought out thanks to Kimi Antonelli in the morning, as his Mercedes suffered a loss of pressure, forcing the Italian to return to the pits in order for his team to change the power unit. But there was also a red flag shown for the typical end-of-day starting procedure.

The final dress rehearsal before Melbourne!

Lights out in Bahrain concludes #F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/tPqeHNgpRe
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 20, 2026

There were further shortcomings for Aston Martin, as Lance Stroll was only able to complete six laps, thanks to Fernando Alonso's car failure the day prior, leading to what the team described as 'limited running' today.

McLaren had a somewhat confusing day, with Lando Norris getting himself into second on less than 50 laps completed, while Oscar Piastri, who did double the lap amount of his McLaren co-star, could only place 11th.

Arvid Lindblad set a testing record today, thanks to the jaw-dropping 165 laps he ran through both sessions today. That's a lot of data!

Charles Leclerc managed his second testing session 'win' today, joining George Russell as the only driver to top two overall sessions in Bahrain's testing for 2026.

Still P1

⏱️ 1m 31.992s#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/djTeljS8Bp
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 20, 2026

The aforementioned Norris was second, but almost nine-tenths off the pace of Leclerc, while Max Verstappen was P3. George Russell and Pierre Gasly were P4 and P5, Russell continuing his strong form into today.

It was a quartet of youngsters next, as Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Kimi Antonelli and Arvid Lindblad finished sixth to ninth, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top ten finishers.

Lance Stroll did not set an official lap time despite being out on the track, while Alonso, Albon, Lawson, Colapinto and Hamilton were not present for either the morning or afternoon session.

Position	Driver / Team	Gap
1	Charles Leclerc / Ferrari	1:31.992
2	Lando Norris / McLaren	+0.879
3	Max Verstappen / Red Bull	+1.117
4	George Russell / Mercedes	+1.205
5	Pierre Gasly / Alpine	+1.429
6	Oliver Bearman / Haas	+1.495
7	Gabriel Bortoleto / Audi	+1.763
8	Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	+1.924
9	Arvid Lindblad / Racing Bulls	+2.157
10	Carlos Sainz / Williams	+2.350
11	Oscar Piastri / McLaren	+2.360
12	Esteban Ocon / Haas	+2.502
13	Isack Hadjar / Racing Bulls	+2.519
14	Valterri Bottas / Cadillac	+3.298
15	Nico Hülkenberg / Audi	+4.027
16	Sergio Pérez / Cadillac	+8.850
17	Lance Stroll / Aston Martin	No time set

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