The first of two three-day pre-season tests has now been completed at the Bahrain International Circuit, and it was the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell who emerged on top.

During such testing, the primary objective for all teams is to focus on reliability and fault finding with their all-new cars, with outright performance a secondary target. However, Formula 1 drivers all have a massive passion for speed in their DNA, and going as quickly as possible is their favourite role. The team which sets the fastest lap times also benefits from a degree of early glory. Having said this, it’s often unwise to place too much emphasis on comparative lap times, as the drivers are often running with different tyre compounds and varying fuel levels, all of which impact on times achieved. However, topping the timing screens is obviously so much better than lurking near the bottom, and the three days in Bahrain revealed clear examples of both.



The daily sessions ran from 10am to seven pm local time (seven am to four pm GMT), giving the teams so much scope to use the track as they ran through their pre-prepared test programmes while having to make adjustments and repairs along the way. To save on costs, each of the eleven teams was allowed to run just a single car rather than the usual two for race weekends, with it being shared by both drivers. Also, each outfit had its own preferred timetable for which driver it used when, meaning that drivers tended not to appear on each of the three days.

Reliability was actually much better than feared overall, although intermittent technical problems did at times halt proceedings temporarily until solutions were found and repairs were effected.

However, the number of laps completed was generally very impressive, and the real issue was the times set. The honour of setting the fastest lap on day one was earned by McLaren's Lando Norris, before Charles Leclerc did the same for Ferrari on day two. On Friday, though, Mercedes opted to stretch its car’s legs rather than sandbag and hide its true performance potential, and the outcome was that the teenage Antonelli set the fastest lap of the whole test (a 1m33.669s), eclipsing his teammate, Russell, by 0.249s. These were the only laps set in the 1m33s throughout the test, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton a little off the pace on day one but improving on the final day to set the third-best time of 1m34.209s.



Of course, F1 wouldn’t be F1 without a good old inter-team argument when someone comes up with a clever technical solution to an issue while others haven’t. The seven teams not using the new Mercedes power unit have been questioning the FIA governing body of the sport as to whether it is compliant with the new 2026 technical regulations, as they feel its ability to generate a higher compression ratio when underway rather than stationary is perhaps illegal. However, the Mercedes team principal and part owner, Toto Wolff, has constantly remained steadfast about it being legal, supported of course by the three other outfits using Mercedes power.

With the new Mercedes power unit seemingly legal and looking strong, even if with a significant reliability issue on Thursday morning, the Ferrari and Red Bull-Ford units have certainly also caught the attention of the F1 paddock, although the latter lost some running at the same time as Mercedes due to a hydraulic leak. However, the Aston Martin Honda combination, led by Adrian Newey, is looking up to four seconds off the pace, which is absolutely light years in F1 terms. It’s very early days, though, and the criticism Newey and Honda have been receiving may prove premature as the season progresses and the car and its power unit improve. In Bahrain, the slow lap times certainly left their drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, annoyed and somewhat disillusioned. You can find 0.4s per lap without too much trouble, but four whole seconds is a nightmare scenario for the Silverstone-based team, particularly when your design chief is the renowned Newey.



The quest for Formula 1 to better mirror some aspects of road car technology has been evidenced by the move for the new generation of cars to have a near 50/50 power split between petrol and electricity, with the latter increased from 20% last season. This has led to drivers having to greatly increase their focus on energy management techniques and not just drive flat out. In Bahrain, Hamilton expressed his concerns about the complexity of the new controls available to drivers, suggesting that one would need a university degree to adequately understand them. Additionally, Verstappen voiced his dislike for the overall direction F1 is taking in this regard and humorously compared the new Formula 1 to 'Formula E on steroids.'

Therefore, the Formula 1 world will now part ways before reuniting in Bahrain for the second and final pre-season test, which is scheduled for next Wednesday.