Checkered flag: full results from the test session

Here are the final results from the session:

11:54 – Red flag procedures begin, and the drivers prepare for practice starts.

11:52 – On track right now are Esteban Ocon, Isack Hadjar, Pierre Gasly, Arvid Lindblad, and Sergio Perez. Lance Stroll has only completed two installation laps without recording a timed lap.

11:44 – Aston Martin finally heads out with Lance Stroll, with about 15 minutes remaining in the session.

11:38 – At this stage, Williams is also collecting some data on tire management. The lap times aren’t particularly encouraging for Carlos Sainz.

11:36 – We’ve seen some images of the Aston Martin ready to hit the track with Lance Stroll. Let’s see if the AMR26 will take part in these final minutes.

11:32 – Charles Leclerc returns to the track for a flying lap. The Monegasque posts a slower time, finishing 0.787 seconds off his best performance from this morning.

11:28 – Oscar Piastri begins a new long run, setting lap times around 1’40”100.

11:23 – Meanwhile, here’s the classification with roughly 40 minutes remaining in the session:

11:20 – Very high lap times for Sergio Perez in the Cadillac, while Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull begins a race simulation.

After Charles Leclerc’s race-pace stint, here are his lap times on the C2 compound:

11:10 – Currently, there isn’t much wind on track, but asphalt temperatures reach 45°C. Rear tires are being heavily tested during the long runs of various teams.

11:06 – Oscar Piastri has stopped, while Esteban Ocon’s pace in the Haas remains very interesting, showing good tire management.

11:02 – Oscar’s lap times continue to rise, partly due to the high track temperature. The McLaren driver has completed 13 laps on yellow tires, averaging 1’40”212 per lap.

10:42 – Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri have returned to their interrupted long-run program following the earlier red flag. Leclerc continues on Medium C3 tires, focusing on gathering consistent lap times and evaluating tire performance over extended runs.

Updated standings with less than ninety minutes remaining in the session:

10:36 – Charles Leclerc returns to the track once again, this time on Medium C3 tires, continuing his program to assess tire wear and race pace consistency.

10:32 – Esteban Ocon remains held up behind Carlos Sainz, who is circulating approximately eight-tenths slower than the Frenchman. Sainz’s pace hovers around 1:41.500 per lap as he focuses on his long-run evaluation.

10:32 – Kimi Antonelli will not return to the track during the remainder of these Bahrain tests. The Italian driver’s next scheduled appearance will be at the season-opening Grand Prix in Melbourne.

10:28 – Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg have both improved their lap times. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon and Isack Hadjar are conducting race-pace simulations on Medium C3 and Medium C2 tires, respectively. Haas continues to demonstrate remarkable consistency, repeatedly circulating within the same tenth of a second.

10:23 – Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg have joined the track action. Teams are now primarily focused on long-run simulations with different tire compounds, evaluating both pace and tire degradation under realistic conditions.

10:18 – Green flag: the session resumes in Bahrain. Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez, Lindblad, and Esteban Ocon are immediately active on track, picking up where the previous interrupted runs left off.

Session paused following Antonelli’s Mercedes issue

10:12 – Red flag! Kimi Antonelli is stopped at the side of the track with his Mercedes. The exact nature of the problem remains unclear, and team engineers are investigating.

10:11 – Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari has overtaken Oscar Piastri at Turn 4 during a race-pace simulation. Piastri’s lap times have increased, while Leclerc maintains the advantage due to his current tire compound and setup.

10:06 – Meanwhile, Leclerc, in the midst of a race-pace simulation, begins his stint on Medium C3 tires, setting a reference lap time of 1:37.827 as he focuses on consistency and tire management.

09:59 – Mid-morning timing sheet

Charles Leclerc remains in front with a 1:33.689 lap, followed by Antonelli and Oscar Piastri. Mercedes and Ferrari lead in total laps completed, with 43 and 42 laps respectively. Cadillac has done only a few laps so far, while Stroll’s Aston Martin remains at zero.

09:57 – Cadillac struggles on track

After a long break and a handful of laps on Hard tires, Sergio Perez’s Cadillac is back in the pits, having completed only four laps so far this morning.

09:54 – Leclerc continues on Hard tires

Leclerc maintains consistent laps around 1:38.5. Meanwhile, Piastri begins work on Medium tires with a fuel-heavy car, posting a 1:39.2 lap.

09:49 – Perez returns to track

After a long break, Sergio Perez heads back out on Hard tires, recording a 1:44.636 on his fourth lap of the morning.

09:47 – Leclerc on fifth Hard tire lap

Leclerc is already on his fifth lap on Hard tires, lapping consistently between 1:38.5 and 1:38.7.

Aston Martin still in the garage

Leclerc leads the times as Stroll’s Aston Martin remains the only car yet to hit the track.

09:43 – Nearly two hours into Day 3

Leclerc still heads the timing sheets. Stroll’s Aston Martin remains in the garage, the only car yet to set a lap.

09:40 – Leclerc completes Hard tire stint

After ten laps on used Medium tires, Leclerc makes a quick pit stop to fit a new set of Hard tires. The Ferrari driver remains at the top of the leaderboard with a fastest lap of 1:33.689, having completed 30 laps so far.

09:34 – Only Leclerc, Antonelli and Lindblad on track

Charles Leclerc continues his stint on used Medium tires, posting a lap of 1:39.808, slower than his previous times.

09:28 – Leclerc working on a fuel-heavy run

Leclerc has been at it for six consecutive laps with a car full of fuel, consistently lapping around 1:38.9.

09:24 – Lap times after nearly 90 minutes of Day 3

Leclerc leads with a 1:33.689, ahead of Antonelli (+0.227) and Piastri (+0.663). Antonelli is the driver with the most laps completed (32), while the Ferrari driver sits at 22.

09:22 – Antonelli and Piastri return to track together

Both drivers prepare for a stint on new Medium tires.

09:17 – Ocon running on intermediates

The Haas completes four laps on intermediate tires.

09:14 – Leclerc Ferrari exits the garage

Charles Leclerc goes out on a new set of Medium C3 tires.

09:10 – Antonelli tops laps completed this morning

Antonelli has completed 27 laps, followed by Ocon and Lindblad with 20. Leclerc has done 15 laps and is now in the garage.

09:06 – Leclerc still leading after one hour

Leclerc holds a 0.2s advantage over Antonelli.

09:02 – Honda issues statement on Alonso

“Alonso’s final stint yesterday highlighted a battery issue […] Therefore, and due to limited power unit spares, Day 3 testing will be very limited and consist of short stints.”

08:58 – Piastri posts flying lap

Oscar Piastri clocks 1:34.15 on a new Medium C3, remaining third as McLaren fails to improve by two tenths.

08:55 – Antonelli closes in on Leclerc

Purple sector in T3, Antonelli finishes a lap in 1:33.916 (+0.227) on a new C3 Medium tire.

08:50 – Leclerc does three laps then pits

Only Lindblad, Antonelli, and Hulkenberg remain on track.

08:45 – Leclerc back for a long run

After time in the garage, Leclerc runs on used C3 Medium tires, posting a 1:38.480 attack lap.

08:39 – Early leaderboard

Leclerc leads Piastri and Ocon. The only car yet to hit track is Stroll’s Aston Martin.

08:37 – Piastri climbs to P2

Oscar Piastri sets 1:34.352 (+0.663) on a new C3.

08:35 – Antonelli starts a long run

Piastri returns to track on new Medium tires.

08:30 – Hadjar improves

While Ferrari returns to the pits, Hadjar clocks 1:34.511. On the same tire as Leclerc, Red Bull remains 0.8s behind.

08:28 – Leclerc improves again

Ferrari trims his lap to 1:33.689.

08:23 – Leclerc leads Hadjar and Ocon

08:20 – Leclerc takes the lead despite a spin

Leclerc sets 1:33.837 on a new C3 Medium tire.

08:18 – Piastri clocks first lap

Oscar Piastri posts 1:37.759 on the McLaren, placing P3 on his first run of the day.

08:15 – Leclerc and Piastri back on track

After time in the garage, Ferrari returns with Leclerc on new Medium tires. Piastri also debuts on Day 3.

08:10 – Hadjar leads initial Day 3 times

08:07 – Hadjar posts first flying lap

The Red Bull driver clocks 1:35.011 on new Medium tires. Only Hadjar and Lindblad are on track at this point.

08:07 – Ferrari #16 returns to pits

After initial shakedown laps, Leclerc heads back to the garage.

08:05 – Leclerc posts first flying lap

Leclerc finishes his first timed lap of the day in 1:38.360.

08:02 – The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc is immediately out on track as well: the Monegasque driver is running on used medium tires and with a “traditional” rear wing configuration.

08:01 – As soon as the green light came on, the first car to head out onto the circuit was the VCARB of Nikita Lindblad, running on the hard compound.

07:30 – Who will take to the track for this final day? In the morning session, we will see: Oscar Piastri, Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Arvid Lindblad, Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman, Pierre Gasly, and Sergio Perez. Many of them will not hand over the car to their teammates in the afternoon.

07:15 – Track conditions in Bahrain The air temperature is around 22°C this morning, while the asphalt will likely exceed 40°C. Keep an eye on the 14 km/h wind, which could unsettle the cars in certain sections of the circuit.

07:00 – Good morning and welcome to the live coverage of the final pre-season testing session. At the end of these eight hours, all teams will fly to Melbourne, Australia, where the first race of the 2026 Formula 1 season will take place over the weekend of March 6-8.

What to expect from the last day?

In the previous days, all teams focused heavily on car setup, analyzing vehicle behavior under all conditions before moving on to race simulations. Once again, Mercedes has emerged as the team to beat, confirming many of the rumors circulating in the paddock. McLaren has also impressed, appearing to be the main rival to Toto Wolff’s squad for the time being.

Ferrari and Red Bull are slightly behind but still very much in contention. Yesterday, the Maranello team surprised everyone by testing a unique rear wing flap system on the SF-26 driven by Lewis Hamilton. It is still unclear whether Charles Leclerc will test the same system today.