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Charles Leclerc ensured Ferrari ended testing for Formula 1's all-new 2026 rules era on top with a series of fastest times of all on the final day of pre-season running in Bahrain.
Having been fastest at the end of the day's first session, Leclerc remained at the top of the times throughout the final four hours of running too as teams dedicated much of their late-day programmes to single-lap runs.
Leclerc, who completed 132 laps for the day, ultimately worked his way down to a 1m31.992s on the softer C4 tyre on a programme that started with push laps on the mid-range C3.
That was 2.6 seconds away from Carlos Sainz's best time from pre-season testing at the same track in 2025, the final season of the previous ground effect era.
Leclerc's lead at the top of the times was a considerable 0.879s, though the fact he was on the C4 accounted for some of this advantage over McLaren driver Lando Norris, on the C3 tyre, who like third- and fourth-fastest Max Verstappen and George Russell, switched attention to longer runs inside the final hour of the session.
McLaren did miss the first two hours of the second session, with Norris restricted to 47 laps after taking over from Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen and Russell set their fastest times - which were both more than a second off Leclerc's best - on the C3-equivalent test tyre that Pirelli brings to testing for control purposes.
While the top four teams appear to have a sizeable advantage at the start of this rules era, the identity of who is at the head of the chasing pack is harder to gauge.
Alpine ended the test fifth fastest, with Pierre Gasly's 1m33.421s on the softest C5 tyre late on moving him just ahead of Ollie Bearman - though prior to that the Haas driver had been around three tenths ahead of Gasly when the pair had both set laps on the C4 tyre.
Audi's gently encouraging second test ended with Gabriel Bortoleto setting the seventh-fastest time of the day late on. Like Norris, his start to the afternoon session was delayed but he ended up completing 71 laps with a main focus on long runs before a late switch to a qualifying simulation at the end of the day.
Arvid Lindblad racked up the highest individual tally of laps for a driver on any single day of pre-season testing, completing 165 laps for Racing Bulls.
Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 for Williams but was 2.3s off the pace despite setting his best time on the C5 tyre.
Cadillac managed its best time of the the Bahrain fortnight on the final afternoon as Valtteri Bottas worked his way down to a 1m35.290s, which was 3.298s off Leclerc's benchmark.
Aston Martin's well-documented struggles arguably hit their nadir on the final day; engine partner Honda said early on Friday that the team's mileage would have to be limited, and Lance Stroll completed just six laps all day in the AMR26 - with Aston Martin announcing more than two hours before the end of the test that it had concluded its programme.
Test two day three times
1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m31.992s, 132 laps
2 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m32.871s, 47 laps
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m33.109s, 65 laps
4 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m33.197s, 82 laps
5 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m33.421s, 118 laps
6 Ollie Bearman (Haas) 1m33.487s, 88 laps
7 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 1m33.755s, 71 laps
8 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m33.916s, 49 laps
9 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 1m34.149s, 165 laps
10 Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1m43.342s, 141 laps
11 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1m34.352s, 66 laps
12 Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1m34.494s, 82 laps
13 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 1m34.511s, 59 laps
14 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) 1m35.290s, 38 laps
15 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) 1m36.019s, 64 laps
16 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) 1m40.842s, 61 laps
17 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) no time, 6 laps
