With F1’s extended 2026 test schedule now complete, Sky Sports F1 assesses the key lessons learned ahead of next month’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Following a shakedown in Barcelona at the end of January, F1 teams conducted three consecutive days of official testing in Bahrain to ensure their new 2026 cars were fully prepared for action in Melbourne from March 6th to 8th.
The introduction of both the new power unit and chassis meant that additional track time was set to ensure the new technology took hold, but the 11 days of activity also helped provide a reasonable idea of the competitive situation.
Separate from the pecking order, F1 drivers and fans alike are learning a lot about the new cars, with new engine energy deployment emerging as a potential factor, as well as how the power unit will perform at the start of a race.
The Big Four are still in charge, but in what order?
Prior to this regulation change, teams outside of F1’s established elite had long been envisioned as a major opportunity for the new rules to become front-line contenders.
Early signs indicate that this is not possible, with Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull, the teams occupying the top four positions in each of the past three seasons, appearing to maintain a significant advantage over the rest of the field.
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Check out the highlights from day 3 of the 2nd Bahrain Pre-season Test.
The exciting news, which may be a bit of a bummer for those hoping for a complete reset, is that the “big four” appear to be pretty much evenly matched.
They have spent the majority of the past two weeks pitting each other against each other as the fastest teams, and it would take a brave individual to eliminate either of them from title contention at this stage.
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella claimed after the final day’s practice that he believes Mercedes and Ferrari are “a step ahead” of the team and Red Bull, and this seems to fit the consensus around the paddock pretty well.
Ferrari set the fastest time in Bahrain on the final afternoon with a great lap from Charles Leclerc, but the longer race simulations in testing are usually the most reliable indicators of performance.
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Charles Leclerc rides along as he sets his fastest lap at Bahrain Test 2.
The four teams were close in this field, but questions remain around the paddock as to how subdued performance has been, with many believing Mercedes can take it to a new level in Australia.
So far we have prepared perfectly for the first weekend of the season and there is no doubt there will be great excitement when qualifying begins at Albert Park.
Have Hamilton’s hopes been dashed?
It’s been a good week overall for Ferrari, but Lewis Hamilton may leave Bahrain feeling a bit underdone after his run at the final event was interrupted by some technical problems.
Ferrari boasted near-perfect reliability in Barcelona and the first Bahrain event, but Hamilton was forced off the track for 90 minutes after taking over from Leclerc on Wednesday afternoon, and another problem limited him to just five laps on Thursday morning.
Hamilton was scheduled to complete 79 laps on Thursday afternoon, but ended the week completing 71 fewer laps than his teammate. The seven-time world champion was looking to bounce back from a very disappointing first campaign with Ferrari, but this was less than ideal final preparation.
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Lewis Hamilton says he has more feelings for the 2026 car after leaving last season “behind me”.
It appears Leclerc, the more settled of the Ferrari pair, could arrive in Australia, given that he admitted last week that he was unhappy with having a temporary race engineer in place for the season opener.
Hamilton’s only media appearance this week was before any technical problems arose, so it remains unclear exactly how the Brit feels about his preparations.
A similar situation could arise at Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli bearing the brunt of the technical problems faced by the Silver Arrows in the two Bahrain tests, giving him an advantage over teammate George Russell, who already has a huge advantage in terms of experience.
Does Ferrari have an advantage at the start?
The most interesting moment of the second Bahrain test came at the end of the session when the new start procedure was tried.
There were concerns along the pit lane that the previous regulation procedure would not allow drivers enough time to prepare new power units to effectively leave the grid.
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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri became ‘stuck’ on track before Lewis Hamilton made his practice start again in a Ferrari.
Ferrari reportedly refused to change the rules as it had purposefully developed its power unit to deal with this particular challenge, but it appears that the FIA ultimately agreed to trial an additional five seconds between the last car arriving on the grid and the beginning of the start procedure.
Despite the new system, Ferrari appears to have exceptional starting ability, with Hamilton rocketing off the line twice at Thursday’s practice start.
Other teams appeared to have made progress by the start of Friday night’s final practice, but the red cars will be worth keeping an eye on at the start in Melbourne.
A disastrous week for Aston Martin
Over the past year or two, Aston Martin have probably been the team most vocal about breaking into the top four, but at this point they can’t let that dream slip away.
Team owner Lawrence Stroll invested millions in the project, building a new factory and assembling an all-star technical team led by legendary designer Adrian Newey.
Few expected them to be ready to compete for wins and titles right away, but their performance so far has been shockingly poor.
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On the second day of testing in Bahrain, Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin stopped on track, resulting in a red flag.
The problem, which limited it to just 128 laps this week (138 fewer than newcomer Cadillac), appears to be primarily due to Honda’s power unit.
Honda enjoyed huge success in the previous generation of F1, leading Max Verstappen to four consecutive championships from 2021 to 2025, but they appear to be facing serious problems in their first attempt at the new spec.
In a statement released after completing just six laps on the final day, chief trackside officer Mike Clack acknowledged that there was a “huge amount of work required” to overcome their problems.
Lance Stroll insisted the team would “come together”, but it remains to be seen how teammate Fernando Alonso, 44 and seeking one last chance for glory, will cope with a demoralizing start to 2026.
Few would argue that Newey is the best designer in the sport, but even his brilliance will be worthless if Honda can’t ignite the power unit. The challenge is made even more difficult by the fact that Aston Martin is the only team operating a power unit.
Who is the best among the rest?
With Aston Martin not part of the conversation, Alpine and Haas appear to be the frontrunners for the early midfield.
It would have been disappointing for Alpine to have basically been packing in the 2025 season before it even started, so anything other than significant improvements would have been disappointing, but it looks like they have made remarkable progress.
The fact that they have become a Mercedes engine customer puts them in a good position and the power unit seems to be performing well for the Silver Arrows and their three customer teams.
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Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has spoken out against F1 bosses trying to close loopholes in new engine rules.
Fears that Alpine, McLaren and Williams would be adversely affected by the power unit dispute that dominated pre-season appeared to be allayed by Mercedes manager Toto Wolff’s calm response to the FIA’s proposal for mid-season rule changes.
Haas had the closest battle with Alpine in Bahrain, and under the impressive leadership of Ayao Komatsu, they look poised to punch above their weight once again.
Britain’s Oliver Bearman finished sixth behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly on the final day of testing, giving him a car that will give him plenty of opportunity to prove to Ferrari that he can be Hamilton’s successor.
The 20-year-old came through Ferrari’s academy before being loaned to Haas on a multi-year deal, but has made no secret of his ambitions to break into the Italian team’s race seat.
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