Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Bahrain International Circuit, 2026 pre-season test

Charles Leclerc headed the leaderboard as the teams paused for their lunch break on the final day of testing ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

However no team improved on their fastest lap time of the test so far over the first four hours of running on Friday. 1’33.689 was almost three-tenths of a second off Ferrari’s best lap time, set by Lewis Hamilton yesterday.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s pre-season testing came to an early end shortly after the two-hour mark, when a problem brought his Mercedes to a halt on its 50th lap. He pulled over on the back straight between turns 10 and 11, and did not return to the track as Mercedes diagnosed a loss of pneumatic pressure in his W17.

Nonetheless Antonelli ended his final day in the day second behind Leclerc. Oscar Piastri put his McLaren third ahead of Esteban Ocon, who notched up an impressive 82 laps, and Isack Hadjar.

Following a quiet start to his day, Sergio Perez covered more than a race distance in his Cadillac. However he ended up well off the pace, nearly five seconds slower than the next car.

Aston Martin’s troubles continued as Lance Stroll completed just two laps in his AMR26. The team confirmed earlier in the day problems with its Honda power unit and a shortage of spare parts would force it to limit its running.

This article will be updated

Pos.Car numberDriverTeamModelBest timeGapLaps
116Charles LeclercFerrariSF-261’33.68980
212Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedesW171’33.9160.22749
381Oscar PiastriMcLarenMCL401’34.3520.66366
431Esteban OconHaasVF-261’34.4940.80582
56Isack HadjarRed BullRB221’34.5110.82259
610Pierre GaslyAlpineA5261’34.8461.15757
741Arvid LindbladRacing Bulls031’35.2381.54977
855Carlos Sainz JnrWilliamsFW481’35.2521.56366
927Nico HulkenbergAudiR261’36.0192.33064
1011Sergio PerezCadillac1’40.8427.15361
1118Lance StrollAston MartinAMR26

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