On the penultimate day of the second 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain, teams shifted focus from reliability to outright performance as they prepared for the season-opener in Australia. Testing on Thursday highlighted persistent strengths from last year’s top four — McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari — even as clear superiority remained unproven. Ferrari drew attention with an experimental rear-behind-exhaust beam and a flip rear-wing element used in a straight-line configuration, while Aston Martin’s day was marred by power-unit trouble that curtailed Fernando Alonso after 68 laps. Mercedes logged heavy, trouble-free mileage (157 laps combined) and used representative evening running to probe race pace.
Key takeaways
- Top-four continuity: Teams across the paddock still view McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari as the leading group heading into Australia.
- Ferrari innovation: The team tested a beam wing and briefly ran a flip-style rear wing on Thursday — both treated as experimental items and removed for long runs.
- Aston Martin setback: Fernando Alonso completed 68 laps before an afternoon power-unit (PU) issue forced an early stop, interrupting their mileage plan.
- Mercedes mileage advantage: George Russell and Kimi Antonelli combined for 157 trouble-free laps, allowing Mercedes to recover running lost during last week’s stoppages.
- Small time gaps: Even when teams topped timing sheets, margins between the front runners were often a matter of hundredths, underscoring an unpredictable pecking order.
- Development race ahead: Team principals warned that Australia’s order may not hold — in-season development is expected to reshuffle competitiveness under the new regulations.
Background
Pre-season testing in Bahrain is the final on-track dress rehearsal before the championship opens in Melbourne, and the second test has traditionally been where teams push harder on performance programmes. The 2026 regulations remain sweeping, so squads are balancing reliability checks with more aggressive aerodynamic and powertrain experiments as they confirm development paths. Throughout the two weeks, teams have rotated drivers, validated parts and tried both qualifying-style low-fuel runs and long-distance stints to assess degradation.
Last year’s top four — McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari — arrived in Bahrain with high expectations based on their 2025 form and early winter work. Paddock sentiment has coalesced around those four as the likely front-runners, but each side is cautious about premature conclusions because the new rules create large development windows during the season. For midfield outfits, the priority is extracting consistent performance and avoiding the reliability headaches that can wipe out data gathering and slow development progress.
Main event
Ferrari continued its measured approach by running a Spec-A car early in the year to focus on baseline performance before introducing upgrades. Mid-test the Scuderia introduced targeted components, including a compact beam wing behind the exhaust and, on Thursday, a more dramatic flip rear-wing element that rotates for straight-line mode — an item the team described as experimental and later removed for long-run work. The wing’s appearance and Hamilton’s brief encounter with it prompted scrutiny across the paddock, though Ferrari has not confirmed whether it will survive into race specification.
Aston Martin’s day was defined by a power-unit problem identified by Honda engineers that forced Fernando Alonso to stop on track and end his afternoon run. Alonso finished the day with 68 laps logged; the early termination meant the team could not complete its planned programme, leaving engineers with less representative data ahead of final pre-season checks. The team’s public response stressed campus and track teams were working at full capacity to diagnose and fix the issue.
Mercedes executed a largely flawless day: George Russell and Kimi Antonelli completed 157 laps between them, focusing on a sequence of test items and setup work on the W17, particularly on the C3 compound tyre. With Antonelli finishing an evening session representative of typical race conditions, Mercedes used lower fuel towards the close of his running and he set the day’s fastest time. Team engineers described the session as a useful recovery after last week’s stoppages and as an opportunity to validate parts for Melbourne.
Analysis & implications
Interpretation of testing times requires caution: low-fuel runs and one-lap pace can mislead when teams run different programmes and tyre compounds. The consistency of the four teams that led last year suggests a structural advantage in design resources and development pipelines that is likely to persist, but the margins observed in Bahrain indicate that race weekends, with tyre degradation and track evolution, will be decisive. Expect early-season upgrades and directional development to be the main determinant of championship momentum.
Ferrari’s rear-wing experiments illustrate how teams are still exploring aerodynamic space left by the new regulations. A beam wing and flip element are double-edged: they can unlock straight-line or stability gains but may also introduce complexity for race reliability and parc fermé legality. If Ferrari can refine these concepts and show durability over race simulations, they could narrow the gap to the front or even leapfrog rivals, but the concept remains unproven until more representative running is completed.
Aston Martin’s power-unit stoppage is significant because lost mileage compresses an already tight timeline to fix issues before Australia. Reliability problems not only damage short-term competitive prospects but also limit data needed for setup and tyre allocation decisions. For a title-contending team, a day or two of curtailed running can force difficult trade-offs between addressing the root cause and preparing development parts for the first race.
Comparison & data
| Team | Combined/Notable laps (Day 2) |
|---|---|
| Mercedes (Russell + Antonelli) | 157 laps (trouble-free) |
| Aston Martin (Alonso) | 68 laps (ended early due to PU issue) |
| Ferrari | Introduced beam wing and flip rear element; removed for long runs |
The table above highlights the most pertinent running figures and developments reported on Day 2. High mileage is valuable for reliability verification and setup work; Mercedes’s 157 laps contrast with Aston Martin’s interrupted day, which limits comparative data. Ferrari’s focus was less on cumulative laps and more on component validation, which complicates direct lap-based comparison but signals a proactive aero test program.
Reactions & quotes
“I think we’ll be in the big four — I don’t think we’re in the front of the big four, but it’s going to be a long season with a lot of development.”
Zak Brown, McLaren chief
Brown’s comment captures McLaren’s expectation of membership in the leading quartet while cautioning that intra-group positions will shift as teams bring upgrades.
“It wasn’t enough, and we couldn’t complete our run plan due to a PU-related issue that caused an early finish to the afternoon session.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
Alonso described the practical impact of the stoppage: critical runs were unfinished, leaving engineers with gaps in race-pace and degradation data.
“The high mileage helped the squad recover a good chunk of the ground we lost with several stoppages last week.”
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes trackside chief
Shovlin framed Mercedes’s clean running as a necessary step to validate parts and regain lost test time, underlining the importance of uninterrupted mileage in preseason.
Unconfirmed
- Whether Ferrari’s flip rear-wing element will be approved for or used in race trim remains unconfirmed; the team treated it as a test item and removed it for long runs.
- Precise pace order for Australia is still uncertain — timing screens reflect mixed programmes and fuel loads, so current rankings are provisional.
- The full technical cause and long-term impact of Aston Martin’s PU issue are not yet public; Honda and the team are still investigating.
Bottom line
Day 2 of the second Bahrain test reinforced a broad expectation that McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari will anchor the front of the grid in early 2026, but tiny time gaps and divergent test programmes mean the championship picture remains fluid. Mercedes’s heavy, trouble-free running gave them valuable baseline data, while Ferrari’s aero experiments show the team probing inventive solutions that could pay dividends if they pass durability and governance checks.
Aston Martin’s reliability interruption is a reminder that development opportunities are finite before the season-opening race in Melbourne; lost track time will pressure engineers to prioritize fixes while preparing car updates. Overall, the test emphasised that pre-season conclusions should be provisional — the coming development race, and how teams convert experiments into race-ready upgrades, will decide who truly leads once lights go out in Australia.
Sources
- Formula1.com (media coverage of the Bahrain second test)