F1: Bahrain Testing Day 3: Mercedes makes a strong statement: Antonelli leads a dominant one-two finish

Mercedes concluded the first phase of 2026 winter testing with a dominant performance at Sakhir. On the final day at the Bahrain International Circuit, Andrea Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time, ahead of George Russell to secure a remarkable one-two finish for the German team.

Mercedes is finding its rhythm again after a difficult start

Already in the lead this morning with a lap time of 1'33''918, Russell had set the bar high. But in the afternoon, Kimi Antonelli raised the bar even higher by clocking a 1'33''669, despite a technical program disrupted by several adjustments to the W17. A solid performance that confirms the rise of Mercedes Benz after a more discreet start to the trials.

At Classic Ferrari for sale, Lewis Hamilton He completed several stints throughout the day, prioritizing endurance work over chasing the clock. The Briton finished just over half a second off the fastest time set by the Antonelli's Mercedes, before seeing his single-seater immobilized at the end of the session after a stop on track.

McLaren has also been active, with Oscar piastri author of a very productive day, finishing in fourth place. Behind him, the duo Red Bull compound Max Verstappen et Isaac Hadjar continued its program, the latter showing itself to be rather optimistic about the new propulsion group.

In the peloton, Haas distributed the rolling between Esteban Ocon et Ollie Bearman, While Franco Colapinto interspersed his Alpine between the two. Nico Hülkenberg he, for his part, placed Audi in the top 10 of a session marked by several off-track excursions at the end of the day, notably by Alex Albon.

Further down the rankings, well behind Mercedes Benz, Lance stroll mentioned a significant performance lag for Aston Martinestimated to be several seconds compared to the current pace.

Cadillac experienced an early morning scare when the single-seater of Valtteri Bottas stopped on the track, causing a red flag, before Sergio Perez does not take over and follows up with a long ride in the afternoon.

In terms of mileage, some drivers completed a particularly long series of laps: Piastres surpassed the 150-loop mark, whileHamilton, Colapinto and Lawson covered the equivalent of more than two race distances, a sign of intensive work focused on reliability and data collection.

« We have accumulated a huge amount of valuable information about the car and its behavior " summarized a paddock source, as the teams now prepare to thoroughly analyze the data collected before the second pre-season test, again scheduled for Bahrain from February 18 to 20.