Ferrari set pace, Red Bull suffer issue as second Bahrain F1 test begins
Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap of F1 2026 pre-season testing so far.
Charles Leclerc upped the pace for Ferrari as the second and final F1 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain got underway.
A crucial final three days of running are taking place at the Bahrain International Circuit as the 11 teams continue to get to grips with the biggest regulation change in F1 history as they gear up for the upcoming 2026 season.
On Wednesday morning, Leclerc produced a new benchmark time and the fastest lap of pre-season testing so far with a 1m33.739s in his SF-26, becoming the first driver to dip below the 1m34 mark.
Leclerc ended the first session of the second Bahrain test 0.313s clear of McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris.
Kimi Antonelli also beat his benchmark time from the opening pre-season test to put his Mercedes third, 0.419s off the pace as the top three drivers all completed more than a half-century of laps.
Follow live: Day one of the second 2026 Bahrain F1 test
There was a big gap to fourth, with Alex Albon nearly two seconds adrift in his Williams, while early pacesetter Pierre Gasly was fifth for Alpine.
Red Bull suffered a major setback and saw its running severely curtailed due to a water system issue which restricted Isack Hadjar to just 13 laps in the first four hours of the day as the Frenchman ended up sixth.
Aston Martin also ran into trouble, with an issue with its new Honda power unit forcing Fernando Alonso to be sidelined for much of the morning.
The two-time world champion finished eighth in the timesheet, behind Haas’ Esteban Ocon, with just 28 laps on the board.
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was ninth-fastest ahead of Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad, who completed the most laps of a single driver with 75 tours of Sakhir.
After joining the morning session over an hour late, Sergio Perez managed only 24 laps in his new Cadillac as he set the slowest time of the 11 runners.
After a one-hour lunch break, the opening day of the second Bahrain pre-season test continues at 12pm UK time.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will be among the drivers taking part in the afternoon session.
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