On the second day of the 2026 Formula 1 pre-season test in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc emerged as the fastest driver, edging out reigning world champion Lando Norris, who recorded the highest number of laps.
The Ferrari racer clocked a remarkable time of 1m34.273s during the morning session on soft tires, a time that remained unchallenged throughout the day, outpacing Norris on medium tires by a margin of 0.511s. Norris had previously topped the charts on the first day of testing.
Both drivers set their best times in the morning as teams shifted focus to longer runs in the afternoon, where a series of red flags disrupted the session after lunch. The first interruption occurred when Valtteri Bottas lost a piece of his Cadillac’s right mirror, which fell onto the track and narrowly avoided Carlos Sainz’s Williams.
This stoppage lasted about 10 minutes, followed closely by another red flag after Pierre Gasly’s Alpine halted at Turn 1. A final red flag was waved later in the session to simply assess the procedure.
This marked the third instance of Alpine causing a red flag since the Barcelona shakedown held last month, although they weren’t the only Mercedes-powered team facing difficulties on day two in Bahrain.
George Russell from Mercedes managed only three laps in the morning session due to a power unit issue, which sidelined him for a significant portion of that time. However, post-lunch brought improvements as Russell’s teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, completed 54 laps, finishing fourth on the leaderboard.
Russell’s best time of 1m35.466s placed him a second behind Leclerc, but only 0.072s away from third-place Oliver Bearman. The two drivers exchanged positions throughout the afternoon.
Mercedes has been a focal point during pre-season discussions, along with Red Bull. The latter team made headlines on Wednesday when Max Verstappen logged the most laps, but on day two, their morning session was hampered when Isack Hadjar experienced a hydraulic leak on his RB22, completing just one lap.
Hadjar rebounded in the afternoon, recording a fifth-fastest lap of 1m36.561s, which left him and the rest of the field over two seconds behind Leclerc.
As with all pre-season tests, the emphasis remains on accumulating mileage rather than achieving fast lap times, given that teams are using different tire compounds.
Team Performance Overview
On Thursday, Lando Norris led the lap count with 149 laps around the Bahrain International Circuit, followed closely by Leclerc with 139 laps, Bearman with 130, Fernando Alonso with 98, and Pierre Gasly with 97.
This scenario favors drivers who completed full days rather than sharing track time with teammates, as seen with teams like Mercedes, Audi, Racing Bulls, Cadillac, and Williams. Despite this, McLaren achieved the highest overall mileage, while Ferrari secured second place, followed by Racing Bulls with 133 laps, Williams with 131, Haas with 130, and Audi with 114 laps. Cadillac rounded out the list with 109 laps completed.
Day Two Results Summary
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Sergio Perez
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli
