Key statistics from first Bahrain check for F1 2026

System 1 held its first official pre-season check for the 2026 marketing campaign in Bahrain this week, providing a glimpse into the wholesale regulation modifications which’ll debut this 12 months. 

All 11 groups have been current and there have been a number of speaking factors from the motion, similar to debates over who the benchmark is to Max Verstappen expressing his anger over the brand new guidelines. 

So listed here are the important thing stats from the check. 

Antonelli quickest however completes fewest quantity of laps

Mercedes dominated the highest of the timesheets, setting the one instances below 1m34s in Bahrain with Italian teen Andrea Kimi Antonelli taking the quickest lap throughout the three days.

The 19-year-old, now in his sophomore 12 months, claimed a 1m33.669s on Friday which was 0.249s faster than team-mate George Russell, who was second quickest throughout that remaining day. 

However lap instances needs to be taken with a pinch of salt in testing, as mileage is what’s most vital. That’s an space Antonelli really fell quick on, as he accomplished the fewest laps general attributable to varied technical issues for the W17.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Crew, Alexander Albon, Williams, Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Picture by: Mark Sutton / System 1 by way of Getty Photos

On the opposite finish of the size, seven drivers reached, and even exceeded, 200 laps: Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and Oliver Bearman.

P
DRIVER
TEAM
Laps
Time (day)
Tires

1
Antonelli
Mercedes
94
1’33″669 (J3)
C3

2
Russell
Mercedes
188
1’33″918 (J3)
C3

3
Hamilton
Ferrari
202
1’34″209 (D3)
C3

4
Leclerc
Ferrari
219
1’34″273 (D2)
C3

5
Piastri
McLaren
215
1’34″549 (D3)
C3

6
Norris
McLaren
207
1’34″669 (D1)
C2

7
Verstappen
Purple Bull
197
1’34″798 (D1)
C3

8
Bearman
Haas
200
1’35″394 (D2)
C3

9
Hadjar
Purple Bull
146
1’35″561 (D2)
C3

10
Ocon
Haas
190
1’35″578 (D1)
C3

11
Colapinto
Alpine
172
1’35″806 (D3)
C3

12
Hülkenberg
Audi
178
1’36″291 (J3)
C3

13
Bortoleto
Audi
176
1’36″670 (Day 2)
C3

14
Gasly
Alpine
146
1’36″723 (D2)
C3

15
Albon
Williams
208
1’36″793 (D3)
C3

16
Lawson
Racing Bulls
169
1’36″808 (D3)
C3

17
Bottas
Cadillac
153
1’36″824 (D2)
C3

18
Sainz
Williams
214
1’37″186 (J3)
C2

19
Pérez
Cadillac
167
1’37″365 (J3)
C3

20
Lindblad
Racing Bulls
158
1’37″470 (D2)
C3

21
Stroll
Aston Martin
108
1’38″165 (D3)
C3

22
Alonso
Aston Martin
98
1’38″248 (D2)
C3

McLaren and Williams with most mileage

4 groups exceeded 2,000 km with McLaren and Williams topping that desk on 2,284km. That is significantly excellent news for the James Vowles-led outfit, because it was absent from the Barcelona shakedown.

Mercedes, in the meantime, which considerably impressed in Catalonia, really accomplished the second fewest quantity of laps in Bahrain because it endured varied technical difficulties. Probably the most notable was the morning of day two when Antonelli accomplished simply three laps due to an influence unit downside.

However behind Mercedes was Aston Martin, whose delays and varied technical points restricted it to simply over 1,000km.

Crew
Engine
Lapss (Bahrain 1)
KM(Bahrain 1)

Complete KM(Bahrain 1 + Barcelona)

McLaren
Mercedes
422
2284
3639

Williams
Mercedes
422
2284
2284

Ferrari
Ferrari
421
2279
4328

Haas
Ferrari
390
2111
3932

Audi
Audi
354
1916
3010

Purple Bull
Purple Bull Ford
343
1856
3267

Racing Bulls
Purple Bull Ford
327
1770
3255

Cadillac
Ferrari
320
1732
2496

Alpine
Mercedes
318
1721
3346

Mercedes
Mercedes
282
1526
3864

Aston
Honda
206
1115
1422

Honda lagging behind different energy unit producers

On the engine facet, unsurprisingly, Mercedes racked up probably the most mileage with over 13,000km due to that energy unit being the preferred on the grid with 4 groups.

However when it comes to common kilometres per squad, Ferrari carried out higher with every group powered by the Italian marque averaging over 2,000km in Bahrain. 

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Picture by: Mark Sutton / System 1 by way of Getty Photos

Audi, which has solely its manufacturing facility squad, is slightly below the Mercedes common however above Purple Bull, which is reasonably spectacular given the German marque is making its F1 debut this 12 months. 

Honda, nevertheless, which powers Aston Martin, is struggling having accomplished the least mileage of the 5 energy unit producers in F1.

Engine producer
Laps

KM

(Bahrain 1)

Common KM per group (Bahrain 1)
Complete KM(Bahrain 1 + Barcelona)

Mercedes
1,444
7815
1954
13,133

Ferrari
1131
6121
2040
10,736

Purple Bull Ford
670
3,626
1,813
6,523

Audi
354
1916
1916
3010

Honda
206
1115
1115
1422

Purple flags on the Bahrain exams 1

Automotive
Driver
Day
Time
Motive

Alpine
Colapinto
Wednesday
9:37am
Unknown

Audi
Hülkenberg
Wednesday
2:32pm
Unknown

Cadillac
Pérez
Thursday
8:10am
Unknown

–

–
Thursday
11:52am
FIA check

–
–
Thursday
2:35 pm
Particles

Alpine
Gasly
Thursday
2:53 pm
Unknown

–
–
Thursday
4:53 pm
FIA check

–
–
Thursday
5:00 pm
FIA Take a look at

Cadillac
Bottas
Friday
8:50am
Cooling

 Ferrari
Hamilton
Friday
4:49 pm
Operating out of gasoline

 –
–
Friday
4:55 pm
FIA check

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