2026 Formula 1 Bahrain preseason test: Lando Norris fastest on Day 1, Williams top lap count

Norris did not take part in the morning session for McLaren, as Oscar Piastri (fifth fastest) did the driving and managed 54 laps, to which the reigning F1 World Champion added 58 laps in the evening.

Max Verstappen was fastest in the morning session and continued driving in the afternoon as Red Bull looked relentless and in good form. The Dutchman was second fastest at the end of the day, having driven 136 laps around the Bahrain International Circuit.

However, it was the reliability of the Red Bull Ford power unit and Verstappen's longer stints that caught the eye of rivals.

Charles Leclerc was third fastest at the end of the day after taking over from Lewis Hamilton (seventh fastest) as both Ferrari drivers put in 132 laps in the SF-26. The latter was working with a new, albeit temporary, race engineer.

However, and despite the healthy mileage, the Ferrari SF-26 appeared to be a handful out on track… Not a good sign for the Scuderia, who have abandoned the 2025 car development for a head start on the new one.

Esteban Ocon concluded a fruitful day for Haas, 115 laps and fourth fastest after having the VF-26 for himself all day.

It wasn't the best of days for Mercedes, who only managed 86 laps in total, with issues marring Kimi Antonelli in the afternoon for almost half the session, while George Russell managed 56 laps in the morning. It was a far cry from the huge mileage they achieved in Barcelona—500 laps.

Russell was the sixth fastest overall, while Antonelli was only 11th.

Pierre Gasly posted the eighth fastest time in the Alpine while managing 49 laps on a day when the Enstone-based team suffered issues in the morning session, with Franco Colapinto stopping on track and just managing 28 laps. The Argentine was the 18th fastest.

Nico Hulkenberg concluded a successful day for Audi who debuted a radical sidepod design on the R16 and managed 122 laps overall between the German and his teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, who drove in the morning and was 15th fastest.

Hulkenberg caused the second Red Flag of the day with his car stopping on track, but whatever issue he suffered from was quickly resolved by the team.

Williams seemed to have put their delays and embarrassment behind them as they managed 145 laps, more than any other team, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz sharing the driving duties.

The Thai driver was the tenth fastest at the end of the day, while Sainz was the 13th fastest after handling the morning driving for the team.

Arvid Lindblad started the day for Racing Bulls in decent fashion and managed 75 laps in the morning session, but that was as good as it got for the Faenza squad as their rookie did not manage any running in the afternoon with the VCARB03 developing a fluid leak issue that ended their running prematurely, with Lindblad's best time good for 12th.

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were 14th and 16th fastest, respectively, for Cadillac, the former running in the afternoon and managing 58 laps with the latter running in the AM and racking up 49 laps.

It was a disastrous day for Aston Martin, who were only able to accumulate 36 laps in their AMR26 with Lance Stroll at the wheel and posting the 17th fastest time.