Russell tops Day 1 of second pre-season test in Bahrain ahead of Piastri and Leclerc

George Russell has ended the first day of the second 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain on top, the Mercedes driver setting the pace ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

After Leclerc went fastest during the morning session on a lap of 1m 33.739s, the times tumbled as the afternoon outing progressed at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Russell ultimately taking over the P1 slot with a time of 1m 33.459s.

All but one team opted to change drivers ahead of the day’s second session, Red Bull being the exception as Isack Hadjar remained at the wheel of the RB22 – the Frenchman having lost track time in the morning while the team carried out work on the car.

It was a quiet start when the green light appeared to signal the start of the afternoon’s running, before Ollie Bearman became the first to head out in the Haas a few minutes later. The likes of Piastri and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton soon followed, with many cars sporting either flow-vis paint or aero rakes for their early laps.

Around one hour into the session, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin became beached in the gravel at Turn 11, the Canadian having lost the rear of the car at the end of the straight. A red flag was thrown as the stricken AMR26 was recovered.

Several cars were quick to return to action when the session resumed shortly afterwards, the teams all continuing their programmes with just two and a half days of pre-season testing remaining before the campaign gets underway in Australia on March 6-8.

As the sun started to set in Sakhir – offering more representative conditions – Piastri went to the top of the timesheets on a 1m 33.469s, the Australian putting together a clean lap to go three-tenths quicker than Leclerc’s earlier benchmark.

Stroll returned to the track as darkness fell at the Bahrain International Circuit, Aston Martin trying to gain further mileage after a power unit issue kept Fernando Alonso in the garage for part of the morning session.

Some drivers looked to be pushing as they put in further laps, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Russell in the Mercedes amongst those to experience lock-ups. Others, meanwhile, took the opportunity to practise following their rivals during the final hour of running.

Prior to the chequered flag falling on Thursday, a practice new race starts light procedure took place to close out the session, which saw all cars return to the pit lane before completing a formation lap and an additional formation lap before lining up on the grid for a simulated race start.

At the end of Day 1, Russell – who also amassed the day’s highest lap count of 76 – held the quickest time on a 1m 33.459s, putting him just 0.010s clear of Piastri’s previous effort. Leclerc held onto third with his morning benchmark, while McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli sat in fourth and fifth respectively with times also set earlier in the day.

Hadjar followed in sixth, ahead of Hamilton, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Colapinto and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. The Williams of Alex Albon placed in 11th, with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Bearman, the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Stroll next in the classification.

Esteban Ocon was 16th for Haas, while Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg in the Audi, Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad – who achieved the second best mileage of the day on 75 laps – and the Cadillac pair of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez rounded out the order.

With Day 1 of the final pre-season test in Bahrain now complete, the teams and drivers will return on Thursday for a second day of running, where Max Verstappen will also be back in action as he prepares to take over from Hadjar at Red Bull.