Russell Tops Opening Day of Second 2026 F1 Test

Mercedes’ George Russell topped the opening day of the second 2026 F1 test in Bahrain. 

Russell left it until 32 minutes left of running to set 1m 33.459 to top the day’s combined timesheet ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.010 seconds, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third-fastest after he topped the morning session.

Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris was first on track in the morning session and the latter soon set 1m 37.976 as the initial benchmark, of which Antonelli fell 0.009s shy on his next flier.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly subsequently displaced Norris in the 17th minute with 1m 36.470, but Norris nine minutes later responded with 1m 34.766 as teams built themselves up to a representative low-fuel flying lap in the first hour of running.

Leclerc eventually displaced Norris in the 50th minute with 1m 33.739 which wasn’t beaten for the remainder of the morning session, as Norris fell 0.313s shy of the Monegasque.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1m 33.739
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.313
3	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.419
4	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 1.951
5	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 2.159
6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+ 2.449
7	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 2.679
8	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 2.797
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+ 3.002
10	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+ 3.030
11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+ 4.452

A quiet start to the afternoon session saw every team except Red Bull switch drivers with Haas’ Oliver Bearman first out onto the circuit in the fourth minute, without having much impact on the timesheet on his first run.

Red flags however were shown in the 59th minute after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll spun out after a sudden loss of drive into Turn 11.

The session resumed almost ten minutes later and Piastri not long after proceeded to go third quickest on the C2 tyre with 1m 34.067, not far behind his teammate, Norris.

Piastri subsequently just three minutes shy of the halfway mark of the afternoon session set the fastest lap of the day in the 73rd minute, as he posted 1m 33.469 on the C3 tyre to displace Leclerc by 0.270s whilst Russell went 0.009s shy of the second-placed Ferrari driver.

Russell however left it until 32 minutes left of the day’s running to top the timesheet by just 0.010s from Piastri.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1m 33.459
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.010
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.280
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.593
5	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 0.699
6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+ 0.801
7	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 0.840
8	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 1.654
9	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+ 1.795
10	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+ 1.804
11	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 2.231
12	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 2.294
13	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 2.319
14	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 2.439
15	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 2.515
16	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 2.959
17	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 3.077
18	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+ 3.282
19	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+ 3.310
20	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+ 3.339
21	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+ 4.732