F1 2026 testing live: Impressive Red Bull aim to build on ‘benchmark’ performance in Bahrain

With Isack Hadjar running all day for Red Bull, a delay for the Frenchman. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso is also yet to appear from the pit-lane.

Early lap times after the first half-an-hour:

1. Gasly - 1:39.625
2. Bearman - +7.436
3. Leclerc - +7.972
4. Lawson - +11.438

1) Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:34.669, 58 laps

2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:34.798, 136 laps

3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:35.959, 80 laps

4) Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1:35.578, 115 laps

5) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:35.602, 54 laps

6) George Russell (Mercedes) 1:36.108, 56 laps

7) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:36.433, 52 laps

8) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1:36.765 49 laps

9) Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1:36.861, 73 laps

10) Alex Albon (Williams) 1:37.437, 68 laps

11) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1:37.629 30 laps

12) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 1:37.945, 75 laps

13) Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1:38.221, 77 laps

14) Sergio Perez (Cadillac) 1:38.828, 58 laps

15) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 1:38.871, 49 laps

16) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) 1:39.150, 49 laps

17) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1:39.883, 36 laps

18) Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1:40.330, 28 laps

First stoppage of the day is an early one.

Cadillac’s Sergio Perez has stopped on track - it’s unclear why - but his car has been removed from the racetrack and we are back underway.

We’re a go with the morning session in Bahrain! Here’s a reminder of the line-ups today:

• McLaren: Lando Norris (all day)
• Mercedes: Antonelli (morning) / Russell (afternoon)
• Red Bull: Isack Hadjar (all day)
• Ferrari: Charles Leclerc (all day)
• Williams: Albon (morning) / Sainz (afternoon)
• Racing Bulls: Lawson (morning) / Lindblad (afternoon)
• Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso (all day)
• Haas: Oliver Bearman (all day)
• Audi: Hülkenberg (morning) / Bortoleto (afternoon)
• Alpine: Pierre Gasly (all day)
• Cadillac: Pérez (morning) / Bottas (afternoon)

Ok, we’re about five minutes away from testing getting underway on day two in Bahrain.

As a reminder, we’ll have a four-hour session from 7am GMT to 11am GMT before an hour’s break for lunch, then an afternoon session from 12pm GMT to 4pm GMT.

Let’s have at it!

A bad opening day for Aston Martin, who managed just 33 laps in the morning with Lance Stroll before adding just three more in the afternoon for a paltry total of 36 (by contrast, Williams did 145).

There was optimism around the team when they revealed their Adrian Newey-designed car, which looked different to a lot of the other teams, but they confirmed an issue with the Honda power unit the car uses.

“Our power unit test plan today with Lance went as planned in the morning, however, we detected a data anomaly this afternoon,” said Aston Martin on Wednesday.

“We are now proceeding with precautionary checks on the PU to understand the exact root cause before we can resume testing.”

Lewis Hamilton is cutting a slightly frustrated figure in Bahrain. He won’t have a new permanent race engineer ahead of the new season, which he has said will be “detrimental” to his chances.

In January, Ferrari confirmed his race engineer from last season’s struggle, Riccardo Adami, was being shifted to another role elsewhere in the organisation.

The team has yet to make any further official statements regarding a replacement but it is understood that Carlo Santi has been appointed on an interim basis, although Hamilton suggested there would be another switch soon.

Speaking in Bahrain, Hamilton said: “It’s actually quite a difficult period because it’s not long-term, the solution that we currently have, it’s only going to be a few races.

“So, early on into the season, it's going to be switching up again, and I’ll have to learn to work with someone new, so that’s detrimental to a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, have been through thick and thin and are calm.

“But it is the situation that I’m faced with and I’ll try to do the best that I can. The team is trying to do the best they can to make it as seamless as possible.”

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown was asked about the current pecking order in this era of new regulations and he believes that early signs suggest it could be same old, same old.

“I think we can’t come to any firm conclusions,” hedged Brown. “But if I had to go Vegas (to bet on it), it looks like the big four [McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari] are the big four, kind of hard to tell in what order.

“Mercedes were very strong in Spain. Max has done some great lap times around here. But it kind of looks like the grid is in a similar position.”

Some teams laid down more impressive mileage than others on the opening day.

Here are the lap totals by team - a great shift by Williams but a disaster for Aston Martin, who battled a power unit issue.

• Williams - 145
• Red Bull - 136
• Ferrari - 132
• Audi - 122
• Haas - 115
• McLaren - 112
• Cadillac - 107
• Mercedes - 86
• Alpine - 77
• Racing Bulls - 75
• Aston Martin - 36