Given the typical fog of war shrouding pre-season testing, the rapid rate of development of 2026’s all-new regulations and the uncertainty surrounding the wildly fluctuating energy requirements of the new power unit, coming up with a definitive ranking before the first race is a dangerous endeavour. But after six days a number of clear trends have emerged from Bahrain’s desert mirage, and some F1 teams have already run out of room to hide.
McLaren – 817 laps
What they did
The reigning world champion felt like it came to Bahrain slightly behind where it wanted to be in terms of understanding how to optimise the new power unit, but it certainly wasn’t alone in that regard.
As a test, its days in the desert went well, with plenty of mileage and few major reliability concerns. But it also soon discovered that Mercedes and an innovative Ferrari appear to be a small step ahead at this point in time.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Bahrain has by no means been a bad test for McLaren, but the double world champions will have their work cut out to make it a triple. Its MCL40 in Australia is expected to be largely the same spec as its test car in Bahrain, so it is starting the campaign from a position of humility.
What they said
Andrea Stella, team principal: “In terms of understanding the competitive order I would say that this test has confirmed that Ferrari and Mercedes look like the teams to beat. I think McLaren is not far. I think it’s good to see that we are part of the top four group but I think these two teams seem to have shown a little bit of an advantage.”
Mercedes – 741 laps
What they did
If Mercedes looked like the pre-season favourite before coming to Bahrain, then it did little to dispel that notion over the past fortnight. Mind you, Bahrain certainly wasn’t a perfect test for the Silver Arrows. The W17 wasn’t as bulletproof as it first appeared in Barcelona and demonstrated a few chinks in its armour, with a pneumatic leak on the final day requiring a full power unit change and further restricting Kimi Antonelli’s mileage, with the Italian having already been on the back foot due to first week teething issues.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
But as they always say, it’s easier to make a fast car reliable than a reliable car quick, and on pace Mercedes has still looked like the team to beat in Bahrain despite its best efforts to focus attention on Red Bull. Mercedes has been accused by rivals of playing the usual game of smoke and mirrors before dialing up its power units in Melbourne. In two weeks from now we will know if Red Bull was right.
What they said
Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director: “Unfortunately, our final day of pre-season testing wasn’t a perfect one. We suffered an issue on the power unit side which curtailed Kimi’s running at 49 laps. Despite that though, we did a good job of getting the car out relatively early in the afternoon and overall, we were able to complete a lot of useful work with both drivers. We kept the focus on set-up items and long run consistency today, which allowed us to cover quite a bit of ground.
“The competitive picture still isn’t truly clear, but we know that we have plenty of work ahead as we finalise our preparations for Melbourne. We’ve put together a solid foundation to build from, are looking forward to the challenge ahead, and excited to see how the W17 performs when racing.”
Red Bull – 672 laps
What they did
Red Bull has defied expectations with its brand-new power unit, the first one made in-house at Milton Keynes. Its former partner Honda’s woes with Aston Martin further underline just how impressive an achievement that has been.
In general the RB22 seems in good shape too, but on long runs both Mercedes and Ferrari appeared to have the edge. It appears to be in the same ballpark of McLaren, which looked perhaps slightly more impressive on long runs towards the end of the test. But that slight edge falls entirely within the margin of error of pre-season testing.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
At the end of the day, there was a real fear that Red Bull’s audacious power unit gamble would neutralise any title threat posed by Max Verstappen in 2026. There is strong evidence that won’t be the case. And we saw last year what could (almost) happen if you leave the door ajar for the feisty Dutchman.
What they said
Laurent Mekies, team principal: “On the power unit side, we can’t forget that three years ago where our factory was, there was just a field. We are very proud of them. Does it put us in a position that we can be satisfied with? No, because we very well know the size of the competition. We just had a very good start, but we know we are going to run into a number of uncomfortable moments. So it’s part of the game, but we are happy to be in it. The performance shown by the top guys is stratospheric and it’s going to be a huge development race both on the chassis and PU side, but it’s what we all love.”
Ferrari – 745 laps
What they did
Watching the Ferrari SF-26 pound laps quickly, and quite reliably, must have been a sight for sore Italian eyes back home. Ferrari stunned some of its rivals with a number of clever aerodynamic innovations, including an exhaust wing and a fully rotating rear wing mainplane. Innovations that are visibly striking on TV tend to cause a stir that is often disproportionate to their actual net benefit. So, whether those test items really make such a difference remains to be seen.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
But it shows that Ferrari has been aggressive in how it has attacked the 2026 ruleset with some clever out of the box thinking, which is a positive sign from a team that regressed under the previous regulations. Leclerc also set the fastest time of the test by nine tenths, though on softer tyres than the competition and with uncertainty over fuel loads making that a fool’s errand to dissect.
Any tifosi reading this will know it’s the hope that kills you. But on the ground it was hard not to notice the spring the scarlet clad squadron had in its collective step. Charles Leclerc in particular has never had a particularly good poker face when he was disappointed with the car he unboxed over the past few seasons. There is none of that poorly disguised gloom this time. Rocket starts with the Ferrari power unit is another ace up the Scuderia’s sleeve.
What they said
Fred Vasseur, team principal: “It’s very difficult to have a clear picture of performance. The most important [thing] is that the relative performance of Melbourne won’t probably be the picture at the end of the season, but I prefer to be in a good shape in Melbourne.
“But overall it’s still tight. [On Thursday] you had two cars in less than 0.200s and we have no clue about the engine, about the level of fuel, or tons of parameters that are making a much bigger difference than the 0.200s of difference between the two cars. But overall, it went very well on reliability. We did much more than expected.”
Williams – 790 laps
What they did
Williams has had some catching up to do in Bahrain after not getting ready in time to run at the Barcelona shakedown, and by and large it has been able to do that.
It is early days, but if there’s a Champions League with the top four teams and a Europa League featuring Alpine, Racing Bulls, Haas and Williams, then the Grove team appears to be towards the back of that group rather than in front, but that can all change quickly as the team unlocks more performance from a car that has still completed fewer miles than several of its peers.
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Paddock chatter has it that Williams isn’t just carrying the expectations of an early pivot to the new rules, but also the burden of some additional weight. Meanwhile, the likes of Haas and Alpine have both looked more impressive, so Williams is heading Down Under with a big challenge on its hands.
What they said
James Vowles, team principal: “It’s great to see that across the last six days of testing, we’ve been able to complete the full programme that we wanted. That’s just a testament to the hard work of the teams, both here and in Grove, making sure that we made up for lost time. No one truly knows where all the performance lies. That’s what Melbourne is all about, so I can’t wait to go there, to gain a further understanding of where we are.
“What I know for sure, though, is we have work to do. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve put ourselves on the back foot. But my assurance to everyone is that we have an aggressive programme lining up in front of us in order to make sure that we extract as much performance in this car as possible over the forthcoming months.”
Racing Bulls – 734
Red Bull’s sister team has largely flown under the radar. At winter testing there are two ways to stand out. By being plagued by trouble – hello, Aston – or by putting up impressive laptimes. Racing Bulls did neither and that puts it solidly in the midfield, roughly where the Anglo-Italian brigade finished the previous regulations era.
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
F1 2026’s only rookie Arvid Lindblad acquitted himself well, benefitting from this season’s expanded winter programme to get up to speed for his maiden campaign. Neither Lindblad’s nor team-mate Liam Lawson’s long runs seemed to be able to match the likes of Alpine or Haas, however, despite being on a softer compound. But the team vowed to bring a decent upgrade package to Australia to put itself in a stronger position.
What they said
Alan Permane, team principal: “Last week was productive and this week has been even better. We’ve learned a lot about the car and the power unit; both of which have run reliably all week. We’ve had a few minor issues, but nothing that will affect us once we get to Melbourne. Liam and Arvid are quickly finding more performance and getting comfortable with the car. The car will continue to evolve quickly, and we’ll have the first new parts arriving in Australia. What we’re seeing here will change rapidly, and we’ll continue adding performance on a race-by-race basis.”
Aston Martin – 334 laps
What they did
Not very much, is the answer. Aston Martin only completed 334 laps across the six days of testing in Bahrain. That’s 252 laps fewer than the next team, series newcomer Cadillac.
If its first week in Bahrain looked like a struggle, things went from bad to worse during week two. This week, a power unit issue kept the AMR26 in the garage for four hours on Wednesday, before Lance Stroll spun into the gravel due to what looked like a technical fault. A battery-related problem ended the team’s Thursday running early in the afternoon session, and it failed to return to action but for a handful of installation laps on Friday as it looked to have run out of a few spare parts.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
The 2026 pre-season has been little short of a disaster. And while both the team and Honda are trying to put on a brave face, its delays and early gremlins on both the chassis and power unit have meant that its problems have cascaded, falling further behind in mileage and therefore understanding of the new rules. The Adrian Newey led superteam has already spun itself into expectation management, but it will need to dig deep both in Silverstone and Sakura to be in the ballpark this year. A penny for Fernando Alonso’s thoughts?
What they said
Aston Martin team representative Pedro de la Rosa: “Definitely, we are not where we wanted to be. We have been the team with [the fewest] laps during pre-season testing. It’s a new set of regulations, everything is new. We have a new partner in Honda, new gearbox, new rear suspension. We really know the places and the areas of the car we need to focus on. We would have preferred to do many more laps, but the amount of laps we have done is showing us a direction for the future. So there’s still a lot of work to be done behind the scenes.”
Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara: “It has been an enduring week, but we extend our thanks to the team for their support trackside and everyone working in Japan and the UK remotely. Overall, we are not happy with our performance and our reliability at the moment. However, we are all looking for solutions together in Sakura, Milton Keynes and Silverstone.”
Haas – 794 laps
What they did
Haas has had the appearance of swan, making an outwardly graceful appearance but furiously peddling away underneath the surface to even make the Barcelona shakedown, as team boss Ayao Komatsu admitted. But the team’s work appears to have paid off, because it’s been pound-for-pound the most impressive looking midfield runner at Sakhir – the VF-26 looking relatively gentle to drive and fast over short and longer stints. Again, the usual caveats. You know the drill.
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Over all three tests, only Mercedes has completed more laps than Haas, which seems to have reconnected with its old reputation for starting out of the blocks quickly – quite a feat for F1’s smallest team.
What they said
Ayao Komatsu, team principal: “I think you have to be balanced. You always want more. You always want your car to be delivering everything perfectly, which is not the case. But if we look at everything – a huge regulation change, hitting the track running, having a reasonably highly reliable car. We managed to complete two race distances today. Okay, it wasn’t problem-free, but at least we completed it. And we’re now going through the same program. So in that sense, I think we are ticking off the basics.”
Audi – 711 laps
What they did
Audi’s first part of the double Bahrain test looked distinctly unimpressive, until it found a lot of gains on the penultimate day and continued in the same vein on Friday. It’s not just on the timesheets that saw Audi make a surprisingly high appearance, but both Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto’s longer runs looked very solid too.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
The end of the Bahrain test has therefore allayed fears Audi would join the company of Aston Martin and Cadillac, and instead fuelled hopes it is part of the midfield group.
What they said
James Key, technical director: “We have made significant progress. Over the past weeks we have introduced our race-spec aero package, completed race distance simulations, and carried out an extensive amount of set-up work across both chassis and power unit. It has been an extremely busy and intense period. The drivers are comfortable with the car and it is a good platform to work with.
“There are areas to improve in terms of reliability and performance, but nothing unexpected at this stage. Overall, we are broadly where we hoped to be at this point in the season and in our development as a team.”
Alpine – 677 laps
What they did
Alpine initially looked to be at the front of the aforementioned Europa League group, even if Haas had somewhat stolen its thunder towards the end of the two-pronged Bahrain test. The main caveat is that we simply haven’t seen as much from the Alpine A526 in race trim yet.
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images
But team Enstone’s 2026 challenger seems to have been born well, even if the scars of 2025’s disappointing campaign have probably taught it not to get carried away. Last year soon turned out to be a pointless exercise. Not so this year, there is no reason why the A526 couldn’t contend for points in the hands of Pierre Gasly and a maturing Franco Colapinto.
What they said
Steve Nielsen, team principal: “This week in Bahrain we have really focused on pushing the car more and more across a range of conditions as we edge closer to going racing once again. Only then, in Australia, by Saturday afternoon, will we truly know where we stand in the competitive order. Right now, though, we are pleased with our efforts in recent weeks. We have a reasonable package and a good baseline to work from, at least for the first few races of the season.”
Cadillac – 586 laps
What they did
Cadillac’s pre-season roughly continued the way it started in Barcelona. It never looked particularly quick, it had its fair share of teething issues, but it was there and it was collecting a good number of laps. There is no doubt F1’s 11th team will start from humble beginnings, several seconds behind the frontrunners, but it looks like a respectable F1 operation.
And if Aston keeps struggling to piece together a race distance, Cadillac might not even be last.
Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
What they said
Graeme Lowdon, team principal: “We’ve had a really productive two weeks out here in Bahrain. A few small issues here and there, just like any other Formula 1 team, but all in all we can be very happy with the progress that we’ve made.
“We’ve got a good baseline package that sets us up well for our first race in Melbourne. It’s a massive achievement to get to where we are now, and I’m extremely grateful and proud of everyone in the team for all their hard work.”
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