All the key numbers from the F1 Bahrain pre-season tests

All eyes are now on the opening round of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign after pre-season running concluded on Friday to cap off nine days of testing between Bahrain and Barcelona.

This is all ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on 6-8 March, which’ll kickstart a new era for the championship with its widespread regulation changes. 

So how do the teams look going into it? Hey are the key figures from the pre-season.

Ferrari dominates the timesheets

If testing presented a clear picture of the pecking order, then Ferrari would be jumping with glee because Lewis Hamilton set the overall fastest lap across three days of running in Barcelona, whereas it was Charles Leclerc who was quickest during the six days spent in Bahrain.

But obviously the usual testing caveats such as sandbagging come with that, yet an interesting thing to do is compare Leclerc’s final time against the best lap from last year’s Bahrain test. In 2025, Williams man Carlos Sainz topped the timesheets with a 1m29.348s, which was approximately 2.5s quicker than Leclerc’s 1m31.992s. 

Times and laps in Barcelona

First Bahrain test times and laps 

Second Bahrain test times and laps

Russell, Leclerc, and Ocon impress on mileage

Russell backed up the Mercedes favourites tag for F1 2026 with his mileage

Photo by: Sona Maleterova / Getty Images

The priority in pre-season isn’t necessarily to achieve the best lap time, but actually to complete the most mileage and George Russell, Leclerc, plus Esteban Ocon all particularly stood out by exceeding the 3,000km mark.

This is 500km more than the average by the drivers across the nine days, with several notable exceptions at the bottom of the rankings. Williams is of course included in that, considering it skipped Barcelona, whereas Cadillac and Aston Martin were both low down on that table with various problems striking each side on seemingly every day.

Mercedes, Haas, and Ferrari pass the 6,000km mark 

Haas impressed with the amount of mileage it completed in pre-season

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

For mileage on the team side, three constructors exceeded the 6,000km mark: Haas, Mercedes and Ferrari. It’s obviously no surprise for the latter two given they firmly fight at the front, and have done for years, but for Haas to also do that is impressive. Though it doesn’t necessarily translate to quick lap times, with the American outfit still expected to be in the midfield. 

Elsewhere, F1 debutants Audi delivered consistent running by approaching the 5,000km mark while Williams, despite its Barcelona shenanigans, racked up more than 4,000km in what was effectively six days of running.

On the complete other end of the table was Aston Martin, who fell victim to numerous problems, particularly with its new Honda power unit.

The Mercedes engine has completed half a lap around the Earth

Mercedes engines racked up the laps

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

With four teams powered by Mercedes, it would have been surprising if the German marque had not led the way in terms of mileage for power units. By exceeding 20,000km of running, the star-branded V6 turbo hybrid engines have symbolically completed half a rotation around the Earth (the circumference being around 40,000km).

But, comparing that total mileage to the number of teams involved, the average per squad is actually similar between Mercedes and Ferrari, which powers three outfits on the grid including the factory constructor.

Red Bull Ford also made an excellent effort on its debut with the average mileage being above 5,000km across its two teams and on a par with the more establishment power unit suppliers in Mercedes and Ferrari. Audi, meanwhile, also made a solid effort but as expected, Honda is bottom of the list with Aston.

Photos from Bahrain Pre-Season Testing – Day 6

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