F1 Testing: Ferrari & Mercedes Lead, McLaren & Red Bull Close Behind

February 22, 2026 Alex Carter - Sports Editor Sport

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari set the fastest lap time on the final morning of Formula 1’s pre-season testing in Bahrain, finishing ahead of Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes. Leclerc’s time was 0.811 seconds quicker than Antonelli’s, marking a dominant end to the test session.

While headline lap times are often considered unreliable indicators of competitive order during pre-season testing, this result aligned with a broader trend observed throughout the week. Multiple team principals and senior figures within the paddock have indicated that Ferrari and Mercedes appear to be the frontrunners heading into the new season.

Andrea Stella, team principal of McLaren, stated on Friday evening that the test “confirmed that Ferrari and Mercedes look like the teams to beat,” placing his own team and Red Bull slightly behind. This assessment was based not solely on single-lap pace, but more significantly on race simulation runs, where teams run a full grand prix distance with fuel loaded.

Leclerc also posted the best race simulation time on Friday, surpassing the nearly identical times set by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri the previous day. Mercedes did not conduct race simulations during the second week of testing, limiting their comparable data to the first week when track conditions were slower by up to a second. However, Antonelli’s race simulation from the first week was notably faster than Piastri’s.

George Russell, Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate and a pre-season championship favorite according to bookmakers, also demonstrated strong pace in the warmer conditions earlier in the day. This accumulation of data led Stella and others to conclude that Ferrari and Mercedes currently hold a performance advantage.

Complicating the picture somewhat, McLaren was not utilizing the latest specification of the Mercedes power unit during the test. The team anticipates a performance increase when they switch to the updated unit in Australia. Red Bull’s new engine, meanwhile, has been praised by Russell for its energy deployment, a critical factor in the upcoming season.

Reliability remains a key concern for Mercedes. Antonelli experienced more issues than Russell and the team generally encountered more problems than its primary rivals. Red Bull’s new recruit, Isack Hadjar, also faced running disruptions due to technical issues.

The Bahrain test concluded with Aston Martin restricted to only two laps on the final morning, adding another layer of complexity to the pre-season assessments.