All 11 Formula 1 teams have now completed the second and final pre-season test in Bahrain before the new season starts in Melbourne, Australia, in a fortnight’s time, and there were clear winners and a distinct loser in the Middle East, with Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull looking strong and Aston Martin still woefully off the pace.

The format for the test was the same as for the previous week, with each outfit running a single car shared by both of its drivers and with daily ontrack running allowed between 10.00 and 19.00 local time (07.00 to 16.00GMT) minus a compulsory one-hour lunch break. This again allowed plenty of scope for further testing of all the new cars for 2026, and ultimately it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who set the overall fastest time of the six days in Bahrain with a 1m31.992s.



On day one Mercedes’ George Russell had gone quickest ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Leclerc, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso only 17th fastest and three seconds off the pace and with Red Bull opting to keep Max Verstappen out of the car.

The next day, Mercedes' teenage rising star, Kimi Antonelli, dominated the timing screens with a time of 1m32.803s, leaving Piastri and Verstappen in the lead. The latter certainly had a busy day, as he completed 137 laps – this gains significance when you remember that the full distance of the Bahrain Grand Prix is only 57 laps! However, things went from bad to worse within the Aston Martin camp, as Alonso was only 15th fastest among the 16 drivers who set a time, with his best 4.669s off the pace. At least it proved to be a good day for Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull, but with just one more day of testing still to go, Adrian Newey’s new team and its Honda power unit supplier faced an uphill task to look remotely racey rather than embarrassingly slow and unreliable.



Friday was the last opportunity to venture back on track, and it was Leclerc who led the way ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Verstappen. Ferrari and Aston Martin chose not to use Lewis Hamilton nor Alonso on the final day, and the latter was no doubt more than happy that Lance Stroll was tasked with driving the recalcitrant AMR26, which completed a mere six laps before the outfit decided to pack up early and head home. Stroll’s best effort was a massive 14 seconds slower than Leclerc’s Ferrari as the team continued to be plagued with dismal speed and awful unreliability. How Aston Martin must be questioning its decision to ditch Mercedes power in favour of Honda.

Meanwhile, Racing Bulls’ rookie, Arvid Lindblad, completed pretty much the equivalent of three Grand Prix distances on Friday alone, suggesting F1 drivers are getting younger and fitter or the cars are physically much less challenging to drive than in years gone by. The answer is probably a combination of the two, with the new Red Bull-Ford power units shining in comparison with Honda.

Behind the scenes there was also an element of intrigue at Red Bull, as its Chief Designer, Craig Skinner, who had been an integral part of the team for 20 years and had worked closely with Newey and the Technical Director, Pierre Wache, left with immediate effect, with the reason why not yet revealed.


So, next up we have the Albert Park opening round of the 2026 season in two weeks’ time, with all the new regulations having merely made the usual pre-season anticipation and excitement reach new highs. It’s impossible to predict who will lead the way, with several teams vying to be the best, and Aston Martin can only hope to work some desperate magic despite no more pre-season testing being allowed.

For all fans of Formula 1 who enjoy Netflix’s Drive to Survive coverage, with many having become hooked on the sport directly because of it, a date for your diaries has to be Friday, 27 February, when all the new programmes covering the 2025 season will be released. This could make for a compulsive Friday night’s viewing ahead of Melbourne.