F1 News: Antonelli leads Mercedes 1-2 on final day of Bahrain test

Demonstrating the superiority of their trick Mercedes engine, Kimi Antonelli (pictured) turned a lap of 1m33.669s to finish on top in Day 3 of preseason Formula 1 testing at the Bahrain International Circuit. His Mercedes teammate, George Russell, was 2nd, 0.249s behind the young Italian.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Lewis Hamilton focused on long runs and was third fastest on Friday, 0.540s behind Antonelli in his #44 Ferrari. Hamilton did 150 laps on Friday, the most of the day.

44 Lewis Hamilton, (GRB), Scuderia Ferrari SF26, during the Winter testing days 1, Formula 1 World Championship 2026 Bahrain 11-13 February 2026

Sandbagging Oscar Piastri was 4th in the superior Rob Marshall designed McLaren-Mercedes, 0.880s behind Antonelli.

Max Verstappen also focused on race runs and rounded out the top-5, 1.672s behind Antonelli. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar was 6th.

03 Max Verstappen, (NED), Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22, Red Bull-Ford, during the Winter testing days 1, Formula 1 World Championship 2026 Bahrain 11-13 February 2026

Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman split the day for Haas en route to seventh and ninth respectively, sandwiching the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, while Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10 positions for the arriving Audi operation.

27 Nico Hulkenberg, (GER), Revolut Audi F1 Team R26, during the Winter testing days 1, Formula 1 World championship 2026 Bahrain 11-13 February 2026

Bahrain Day 3 Testing Results (AM and PM combined)

Pos	Driver	Nat	Team	Time	Behind	Laps
1	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	ITA	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m33.669s	+0.000s	61
2	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m33.918s	+0.249s	78
3	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Scuderia Ferrari HP	1m34.209s	+0.540s	150
4	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	1m34.549s	+0.880s	161
5	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m35.341s	+1.672s	61
6	Isack Hadjar	FRA	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m35.610s	+1.941s	59
7	Esteban Ocon	GBR	TGR Haas F1 Team	1m35.753s	+2.084s	75
8	Franco Colapinto	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m35.806s	+2.137s	144
9	Oliver Bearman	ARG	TGR Haas F1 Team	1m35.972s	+2.303s	70
10	Nico Hulkenberg	NZL	Audi Revolut F1 Team	1m36.291s	+2.622s	58
11	Alex Albon	GER	Atlassian Williams F1 Team	1m36.793s	+3.124s	78
12	Liam Lawson	ESP	Racing Bulls	1m36.808s	+3.139s	119
13	Carlos Sainz	BRA	Atlassian Williams F1 Team	1m37.186s	+3.517s	68
14	Sergio Pérez	CAN	Cadillac F1	1m37.365s	+3.696s	67
15	Gabriel Bortoleto	FIN	BWT Alpine	1m37.536s	+3.867s	60
16	Lance Stroll	MEX	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m38.165s	+4.496s	72
17	Valtteri Bottas	THA	Cadillac F1	1m38.772s	+5.103s	37