All eyes at the moment are on the opening spherical of the 2026 Components 1 marketing campaign after pre-season operating concluded on Friday to cap off 9 days of testing between Bahrain and Barcelona.
That is all forward of the Australian Grand Prix on 6-8 March, which’ll kickstart a brand new period for the championship with its widespread regulation adjustments.
So how do the groups look going into it? Hey are the key figures from the pre-season.
Ferrari dominates the timesheets
Leclerc set the quickest lap in Bahrain, however there are nonetheless too many unknowns
Picture by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Photographs
If testing introduced a transparent image of the pecking order, then Ferrari can be leaping with glee as a result of Lewis Hamilton set the general quickest lap throughout three days of operating in Barcelona, whereas it was Charles Leclerc who was quickest through the six days spent in Bahrain.
However clearly the standard testing caveats reminiscent of sandbagging include that, but an attention-grabbing factor to do is examine Leclerc’s remaining time in opposition to the very best lap from final 12 months’s Bahrain check. In 2025, Williams man Carlos Sainz topped the timesheets with a 1m29.348s, which was roughly 2.5s faster than Leclerc’s 1m31.992s.
Occasions and laps in Barcelona
P
DRIVER
TEAM
Laps
Time
1
Hamilton
Ferrari
209
1m16.348s
2
Russell
Mercedes
265
1m16.445s
3
Norris
McLaren
163
1m16.594s
4
Leclerc
Ferrari
231
1m16.653s
5
Antonelli
Mercedes
237
1m17.081s
6
Piastri
McLaren
128
1m17.446s
7
Verstappen
Pink Bull
145
1m17.586s
8
Gasly
Alpine
231
1m17.707s
9
Hadjar
Pink Bull
158
1m18.159s
10
Ocon
Haas
243
1m18.393s
11
Bearman
Haas
148
1m18.423s
12
Lindblad
Racing Bulls
167
1m18.451s
13
Lawson
Racing Bulls
152
1m18.840s
14
Colapinto
Alpine
118
1m19.150s
15
Hulkenberg
Audi
145
1m19.870s
16
Bortoleto
Audi
90
1m20.179s
17
Alonso
Aston Martin
61
1m20.795s
18
Bottas
Cadillac
87
1m20.920s
19
Perez
Cadillac
77
1m21.024s
20
Stroll
Aston Martin
5
1m46.404s
First Bahrain check occasions and laps
P
DRIVER
TEAM
Laps
Time
Tyres
1
Antonelli
Mercedes
94
1m33.669s
C3
2
Russell
Mercedes
188
1m33.918s
C3
3
Hamilton
Ferrari
202
1m34.209s
C3
4
Leclerc
Ferrari
219
1m34.273s
C3
5
Piastri
McLaren
215
1m34.549s
C3
6
Norris
McLaren
207
1m34.669s
C2
7
Verstappen
Pink Bull
197
1m34.798s
C3
8
Bearman
Haas
200
1m35.394s
C3
9
Hadjar
Pink Bull
146
1m35.561s
C3
10
Ocon
Haas
190
1m35.578s
C3
11
Colapinto
Alpine
172
1m35.806s
C3
12
Hulkenberg
Audi
178
1m36.291s
C3
13
Bortoleto
Audi
176
1m36.670s
C3
14
Gasly
Alpine
146
1m36.723s
C3
15
Albon
Williams
208
1m36.793s
C3
16
Lawson
Racing Bulls
169
1m36.808s
C3
17
Bottas
Cadillac
153
1m36.824s
C3
18
Sainz
Williams
214
1m37.186s
C2
19
Perez
Cadillac
167
1m37.365s
C3
20
Lindblad
Racing Bulls
158
1m37.470s
C3
21
Stroll
Aston Martin
108
1m38.165s
C3
22
Alonso
Aston Martin
98
1m38.248s
C3
Second Bahrain check occasions and laps
P
DRIVER
TEAM
Laps
Time
Tyres
1
Leclerc
Ferrari
202
1m31.992s
C4
2
Antonelli
Mercedes
197
1m32.803s
C3
3
Piastri
McLaren
222
1m32.861s
C3
4
Norris
McLaren
173
1m32.871s
C3
5
Verstappen
Pink Bull
204
1m33.109s
C3
6
Russell
Mercedes
235
1m33.197s
C3
7
Hamilton
Ferrari
122
1m33.408s
C3
8
Gasly
Alpine
179
1m33.421s
C5
9
Bearman
Haas
199
1m33.487s
C4
10
Bortoleto
Audi
171
1m33.755s
C4
11
Colapinto
Alpine
180
1m33.818s
C5
12
Hulkenberg
Audi
186
1m33.987s
C4
13
Lindblad
Racing Bulls
240
1m34.149s
C4
14
Ocon
Haas
205
1m34.201s
C4
15
Hadjar
Pink Bull
125
1m34.260s
C4
16
Sainz
Williams
196
1m34.342s
C5
17
Lawson
Racing Bulls
167
1m34.532s
C4
18
Albon
Williams
172
1m34.555s
C5
19
Bottas
Cadillac
131
1m35.290s
C3
20
Perez
Cadillac
135
1m35.369s
C5
21
Stroll
Aston Martin
32
1m35.974s
C3
22
Alonso
Aston Martin
96
1m36.536s
C3
Russell, Leclerc, and Ocon impress on mileage
Russell backed up the Mercedes favourites tag for F1 2026 together with his mileage
Picture by: Sona Maleterova / Getty Photographs
The precedence in pre-season is not essentially to realize the very best lap time, however truly to finish probably the most mileage and George Russell, Leclerc, plus Esteban Ocon all significantly stood out by exceeding the three,000km mark.
That is 500km greater than the common by the drivers throughout the 9 days, with a number of notable exceptions on the backside of the rankings. Williams is after all included in that, contemplating it skipped Barcelona, whereas Cadillac and Aston Martin had been each low down on that desk with varied issues hanging both sides on seemingly on daily basis.
Driver
Crew
Barcelona (km)
Bahrain 1 (km)
Bahrain 2 (km)
Complete km
Russell
Mercedes
1234
1018
1271
3523
Leclerc
Ferrari
1076
1185
1093
3354
Ocon
Haas
1138
1028
1110
3269
Piastri
McLaren
596
1164
1202
2961
Lindblad
Racing Bulls
778
855
1299
2932
Bearman
Haas
689
1082
1077
2849
Verstappen
Pink Bull
675
1066
1104
2846
Gasly
Alpine
1076
790
969
2835
Norris
McLaren
759
1120
936
2816
Hamilton
Ferrari
973
1093
660
2727
Antonelli
Mercedes
1103
509
1066
2679
Hulkenberg
Audi
675
963
1007
2645
Lawson
Racing Bulls
708
915
904
2526
Colapinto
Alpine
550
931
974
2455
Bortoleto
Audi
419
953
926
2297
Sainz
Williams
0
1158
1061
2219
Hadjar
Pink Bull
736
790
677
2203
Albon
Williams
0
1126
931
2057
Perez
Cadillac
359
904
731
1993
Bottas
Cadillac
405
828
709
1942
Alonso
Aston Martin
284
815
520
1334
Stroll
Aston Martin
23
608
173
781
Mercedes, Haas, and Ferrari go the 6,000km mark 
Haas impressed with the quantity of mileage it accomplished in pre-season
Picture by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Photographs by way of Getty Photographs
For mileage on the workforce aspect, three constructors exceeded the 6,000km mark: Haas, Mercedes and Ferrari. It is clearly no shock for the latter two given they firmly struggle on the entrance, and have performed for years, however for Haas to additionally do that’s spectacular. Although it does not essentially translate to fast lap occasions, with the American outfit nonetheless anticipated to be within the midfield.
Elsewhere, F1 debutants Audi delivered constant operating by approaching the 5,000km mark whereas Williams, regardless of its Barcelona shenanigans, racked up greater than 4,000km in what was successfully six days of operating.
On the whole different finish of the desk was Aston Martin, who fell sufferer to quite a few issues, significantly with its new Honda energy unit.
Learn Additionally:
Crew
Engine
Barcelona (km)
Bahrain 1 (km)
Bahrain 2 (KM)
Complete KM
Mercedes
Mercedes
2338
1526
2338
6202
Haas
Ferrari
1821
2111
2186
6118
Ferrari
Ferrari
2049
2279
1753
6081
McLaren
Mercedes
1355
2284
2138
5777
Racing Bulls
Pink Bull Ford
1486
1770
2203
5458
Alpine
Mercedes
1625
1721
1943
5289
Pink Bull
Pink Bull Ford
1411
1856
1781
5048
Audi
Audi
1094
1916
1932
4942
Williams
Mercedes
0
2284
1992
4276
Cadillac
Ferrari
764
1732
1440
3935
Aston Martin
Honda
307
1115
693
2115
The Mercedes engine has accomplished half a lap across the Earth
Mercedes engines racked up the laps
Picture by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Photographs by way of Getty Photographs
With 4 groups powered by Mercedes, it might have been shocking if the German marque had not led the way in which when it comes to mileage for energy models. By exceeding 20,000km of operating, the star-branded V6 turbo hybrid engines have symbolically accomplished half a rotation across the Earth (the circumference being round 40,000km).
However, evaluating that complete mileage to the variety of groups concerned, the common per squad is definitely comparable between Mercedes and Ferrari, which powers three outfits on the grid together with the manufacturing facility constructor.
Pink Bull Ford additionally made a wonderful effort on its debut with the common mileage being above 5,000km throughout its two groups and on a par with the extra institution energy unit suppliers in Mercedes and Ferrari. Audi, in the meantime, additionally made a stable effort however as anticipated, Honda is backside of the checklist with Aston.
Engine producer
Barcelona (km)
Bahrain 1 (km)
Bahrain 2 (km)
Complete km
Common KMs per workforce
Mercedes
5318
7815
8,410
21,544
5386
Ferrari
4615
6121
5380
16,116
5372
Pink Bull Ford
2897
3626
3983
10,506
5253
Audi
1094
1916
1932
4942
4942
Honda
307
1115
693
2115
2115
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