2026 Formula 1 Bahrain preseason Test 2, Day 2: Teams and Drivers report from Sakhir

McLaren were the best in terms of mileage but only bettered Mercedes' tally by two laps.

Red Bull Racing had a strong day with Max Verstappen showing some ominous race pace after completing a race simulation in the afternoon.

Ferrari surprised everyone with their rear wing design but did not enjoy the best of days reliability-wise.

But it was Aston Martin who suffered most with Fernando Alonso spending more time in the garage than on track.

The revised race start procedures were tested twice in the AM and the PM sessions.

Here is a compilation of what all teams and drivers said at the end of the day.

The penultimate day of pre-season testing took place in Bahrain on Thursday (19 February), with the team racking up 157 laps of running.

George was in the W17 for the morning and completed 77 laps, more than any other driver in the pre-lunch session.

His programme was primarily focused on continuing to evaluate the recent updates brought to the car along with set-up work.

Kimi took over for the afternoon and managed 80 laps before the chequered flag fell.

As part of single lap work on the C3 compound, Kimi set the fastest time of the day with a 1:32.803.

For tomorrow's final day of pre-season running, Kimi will be in the car for the morning before George takes over for the afternoon.

A limited selection of images of the day is available on our media site. All imagery is rights-free for editorial use.

George Russell: "After a solid opening day yesterday, we had more productive running in Bahrain this morning. Once again, our programme wasn't necessarily focused on finding pure performance but understanding our updates and more about the W17. We were able to do that whilst completing the most laps of anyone in the morning session.

"We now have one final day on-track before we head to Melbourne. Whilst we have made up for the lost running in test one, we still have a very full programme to work through tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting back out in the car in the afternoon and focused on helping the team leave Bahrain in the strongest possible position. We've seen some impressive single lap work and long runs from our competitors yet again today so adding to our mileage on Friday is very important."

Kimi Antonelli: "We continue to make up for the lost ground we suffered in the first test here in Bahrain. That was our aim coming into this final pre-season test and hopefully we can make tomorrow count too. With just one more day in the car before we head to Melbourne, every lap counts.

"Our programme today contained lots of set-up work along with some single lap running. We were able to get through everything we had planned and end the day P1. Whilst that is positive, the gaps between those at the front are already incredibly small and down to a matter of hundredths today. We will continue to push hard, look to finish this test well, and hope to be in the fight near the front come the first race in Australia."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "We've had another good day of running, completing 157 trouble free laps. That has helped us to recover a good chunk of the ground we lost with several stoppages last week. We have continued to split our days with George running this morning and Kimi in the cooler conditions of the evening. Despite the difference in conditions, the programme for both was mainly focused on set-up work on the C3 tyre. We managed to get through several test items which is useful as we build our understanding of the W17 and the 2026 Pirelli tyres.

"As it was Kimi's last evening session, we had a look at lower fuel running towards the end of the day with the conditions closest to those that we'll see here in qualifying in a few weeks' time. That providing him with useful learning and showed just how competitive the front of the field seems to be already. Hopefully we can have another solid day tomorrow to round off pre-season testing before we head to Melbourne."

The McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team completed a second consecutive day of testing at Formula 1's Bahrain Pre-Season Test 2 with 158 laps completed between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, covering a total distance of 855.096 km.

The team's running for the second day saw a continued carryover of their programme from Wednesday's time on track at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Throughout Thursday's morning session, Lando spent his time at the wheel of the MCL40 focusing on setup preparation with power unit and chassis testing in both Qualifying and race simulation laps. This also allowed for a variety of high and low-fuel runs to be completed as the British driver recorded 72 laps in total for his second day on track.

Lando also experienced Pirelli's C4 tyre for the first time this week, following Oscar's time on the compound during Wednesday afternoon's running. This means both McLaren Mastercard drivers have now experienced all four of our chosen Pirelli compounds for this second test in Bahrain. By working through each individual tyre compound, the team have been able to gather important learnings alongside the valuable data collected through testing various items in both types of running.

Oscar completed the afternoon session in the MCL40, finalising his running with 86 laps. As seen throughout the team's time on track yesterday, both drivers ran similar programmes to allow for a better understand of the car's operation and performance in multiple conditions. This, therefore, meant that Oscar's run plan included a proper race simulation with pit stops, providing a more accurate account of what racing in Sakhir could look like come April's race.

As part of the team's race preparation and in line with the FIA's start procedure trial, both drivers simulated their launch procedure. This aligns with the team's objective of wanting to gather additional important learnings with each lap completed.

The team will conclude their pre-season testing schedule tomorrow, focusing on expanding the knowledge assembled around the overall package of the MCL40. This will include maximising performance across the various racing modes available, while building on the productive information collected throughout the entirety of pre-season. Lando and Oscar will continue to share driving duties throughout the day. Oscar will start off the running in the morning period before Lando pilots the MCL40 for the closing afternoon session.

Lando Norris: "Another productive day. With each day at these tests, we're learning more about the car. We focused on some race preparation running this afternoon, seeing where we can find performance, which went well and we made some good improvements as a result. There's still lots of performance to find, which is the case for every team on the grid, but overall, a smooth day. I'm looking forward to getting back on track in the morning to finish out testing."

Oscar Piastri: "We made some more good steps today. We're gaining more and more understanding of the tyres, the balance and the strengths and weaknesses of our cars. From a tyre perspective, the running of the same sets of tyres on both long and short runs to see how they perform was useful for our learning. It was also good to try the start procedure in these new regulation cars at the end of the morning session. One more session of running tomorrow before we go racing, but I am feeling more confident."

Neil Houldey, Technical Director - Applied Engineering: "Today, we have completed another strong and productive day on track in Bahrain with a total of 855.096 km covered by Lando and Oscar. This is good to see at this stage of pre-season, with solid laps fulfilled by both drivers on various tyre compounds, providing valuable information and learning for the team to work on overnight before tomorrow's concluding sessions.

"Overall, the MCL40 ran smoothly in both sessions, completing a number of good performance runs. Early indications suggest the package could be competitive, though it's still too early to benchmark ourselves against others, but as far as today goes, it was another successful step in the right direction.

"As a team, we're now aiming for a positive final day of testing as we continue to look for further gains in unlocking additional performance across all areas of the car. This includes building on what we have already learnt this week, when furthering our understanding of how to exploit the power unit across the different car setups. It's also important that Lando and Oscar continue to maximise their driving experience under the new regulations on track, gaining valuable mileage and confidence as we head into the season."

Max Verstappen: "As a team, it was good to focus on longer run performance today. We made some adjustments to the set up, which has given us some good direction overnight. Having a full day of running was positive.

"The tyres are super sensitive so there's still a lot of analysis required there. On Friday, we will aim to get as many laps as we can between us.

"There is still a lot to understand, so we hope to get as much data on the car as we can ahead of Melbourne".

Lewis Hamilton took on driving duties for Scuderia Ferrari HP for the entire penultimate day of the second pre-season test. At the wheel of the SF-26, the Englishman completed 84 laps, equivalent to 455 km, continuing with the development and data acquisition programme.

Morning: Lewis went out on track during the first hour, on C3 compound tyres, running a series of tests to evaluate new aero solutions. During the session, the car had a technical problem which required a long time to fix. Once the work was completed, Hamilton went back out on track, also carrying out a few practice starts from the grid, prior to the lunch break.

Afternoon: After the break, work resumed, again on C3 tyres, before switching to the two hardest compounds in the range, the C2 and C1. Lewis did some long runs, evaluating several set-up options and assessing how the tyres behaved as the track gradually rubbered-in more, while the temperatures dropped. Towards the end of the day, Lewis fitted several new sets of C3 tyres, setting his best time of 1'33"408. Tomorrow is the final day of testing before the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship gets underway in Australia.

Lewis Hamilton: "It was not a perfect day for the team, as we weren't able to complete everything we had planned.

"That said, it was a great testament to everyone's hard work, doing a fantastic job fixing the car and getting me back out on track. I'm really grateful for the laps we were able to complete, and the data we gathered will be important as we continue to prepare for the season."

Paul Williams, Chief Trackside Engineer: "It was another solid day of testing for the team, with Alex completing a total of 117 laps after a full day in the car.

"For the morning session, we continued to build on the setup foundations from the previous day with a combination of high fuel and low fuel running.

"Over the lunch break we opted to make some bigger changes to the car, before Alex completed runs testing the full tyre compound range, allowing us to gather useful data ahead of the opening races.

"Carlos will conclude the test programme tomorrow with a full day of running, as we continue to extract performance from the FW48 in preparation for Melbourne."

The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team has completed the second day of Bahrain Test 2, with Fernando Alonso concluding his pre-season testing programme.

Fernando completed 68 laps across the day. His afternoon session ended early after Honda identified a power unit-related issue and, as a precaution, the team stopped the car. It was returned safely to the garage for further checks and maintenance.

Fernando Alonso: "It was not the easiest day with a few disruptions. It was important to get some mileage in, but it wasn't enough, and we couldn't complete our run plan due to a PU-related issue that caused an early finish to the afternoon session.

"There are many things we need to fix, but I know everyone at the track and at the campus is working at 100% capacity to find solutions."

Franco Colapinto: "I'm pleased to finish my pre-season testing positively with 120 laps completed on what was a very busy day in the car. Conditions were hot throughout and it was great to have two solid sessions again today and complete a good number of laps.

"We've been steadily building up our programme across Barcelona and Bahrain as there is so much to learn and understand on these new cars. At times, we have faced some challenges and the team has done a great job, especially this week, to add a lot of laps to our tally and provide really interesting data for us to analyse.

"For me today it was beneficial to begin pushing the car a bit more and work through different set-up items. We have some ideas to find further improvements, which I am sure Pierre will be keen to try tomorrow as he is in the car all day to finalise our pre-season testing programme.

"I'll be watching closely tomorrow, then I will spend time with the team back at the factory as we get closer to going racing once again."

The penultimate day of pre-season testing for the 2026 FIA F1 World Championship commenced with Ollie Bearman first up to drive for TGR Haas F1 Team. The British racer logged 69 laps in the morning session at the Bahrain International Circuit (10:00 – 14:00 local). Having put the VF-26 through its paces, continuing the team's understanding of its latest challenger – Bearman ended his run program having set a best lap of 1:35.279 running solely on the Pirelli C3 tire throughout the morning.

Esteban Ocon was back in the VF-26 for the afternoon session (15:00 – 19:00 local) taking the action from daytime to the full glare of the lights in the evening around the 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile), 15-turn track – home of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Ocon's run plan included the introduction of the C4 compound for the first time this week in addition to trialing sets of the C2 and C3 tires. The Frenchman delivered a fastest lap of 1:34.201 in the session and completed a total of 58 laps.

Ocon returns in the morning to start Friday's running – the final day of testing in Bahrain, with Bearman completing TGR Haas F1 Team's track activities with the VF-26 in the afternoon.

Ollie Bearman: "It was a fun day back on track. We improved a lot of things from yesterday, so I'm really happy with the progress. The team did an excellent job overnight to rectify some issues that we've been facing since we started running the car, which we found out about yesterday, so I'm really happy with that. I'm looking forward to continuing the work with Esteban in the afternoon."

Esteban Ocon: "It's been a very decent day for all of us, really trying to tackle some of the balance issues we've been facing since the beginning of the test with the car. I think we've found some decent solutions, which, after today, is very positive. Obviously, there's still more learning that we need to be doing, and hopefully tomorrow we can continue to understand more. I think today's probably been the most productive day of the whole year."

Ayao Komatsu – Team Principal: "It was another good day of testing with Ollie back in the car in the morning, and Esteban in the afternoon. Splitting the day again today was very useful because we repeated tests in both sessions, and both drivers' feedback was exactly the same. We carried on from yesterday's test, made some changes overnight, and learned quite a lot today. I feel like today was a very productive day. We only have one day left before Melbourne, so we need to focus on the basics to get all the procedures like race starts signed off as well as the performance items, so we're just focused on a good day tomorrow."

Gabriel Bortoleto: “All in all, it’s been another positive day in the office for us. I didn’t manage many laps myself this morning, as we had to run some checks that kept us in the garage for a while.

"Still, we were able to complete a couple of runs and go through most of our programme for the session. The team did a great job in getting everything sorted out so that Nico could get some solid running in during the afternoon, including a race simulation, which gives us valuable data heading into the season opener.

"I’m looking forward to being back in the car tomorrow, adding more laps, and continuing our preparations ahead of Melbourne.”

Nico Hulkenberg: “It was a productive afternoon in the car, during which we were able to simulate a range of race weekend scenarios. We continued to gather valuable information and data, and there is still plenty to learn as we keep going through our programme.

"It remains very much a work in progress, but we are making steps forward and picking up new insights each day. We have one final day in the car tomorrow and will look to build further on today’s work.”

A Mercedes driver has once again set the overall fastest time of pre-season testing in Bahrain. For the first time today, every compound in the range was utilised, including the softest C5, which had been requested by only four teams.

At the end of day five, Kimi Antonelli recorded a time of 1:32.803s, beating his teammate George Russell, who had lowered the benchmark for the entire grid yesterday.

In truth, that limit was surpassed by four more drivers today, demonstrating the progress teams have made on track. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) clocked a 1:32.861s, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finished in 1:33.162s, Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) in 1:33.408 and Lando Norris (McLaren) in 1:33.453s. The last one was the only one in the group to set his time on the C4, while all others used the C3.

In the final hour of the session, Alpine, Cadillac, and Williams each tested the C5 during a run. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) extracted the best potential from the compound with a time of 1:33.818s. Piastri, meanwhile, was the driver who achieved the fastest times on the C1 and C2, with 1:36.576s and 1:33.624s respectively.

Team run plans are now more closely aligned with what was seen on track last week. Teams are working to find the most effective package for their cars, testing new aerodynamic solutions and setups.

Interestingly, some teams are already attempting to identify the delta between different compounds through consecutive performance runs, stepping down the tyre hardness each time.

There was no shortage of long runs, such as Audi's 23 laps on the C1 or Red Bull's equal distance on the C2. This morning, Albon also pushed the C4 for 17 laps using a set that had already completed six. The times obtained will be valuable for evaluating the potential use of this compound during future races.

Out of the 1311 laps completed today on a track that reached a peak of 45°C, the C3 was once again the most used compound with 729 laps (55%). This was followed in descending order by the C2, C1, C4, and C5 (with only 12 laps).

Six drivers did not take to the wheel today: Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Arvin Lindblad (Racing Bulls), and Carlos Sainz (Williams).