Antonelli leads Russell as Mercedes go fastest to end first three-day session in Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2026

Antonelli leads Russell as Mercedes go fastest to end first three-day session in Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2026

• Kimi Antonelli steers Mercedes F1 W17 car to a fastest lap time of 1min 33.669secs
• F1 returns to action for second three-day test session from Wednesday to Friday next week at BIC

Kimi Antonelli was quickest this evening as Formula 1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2026 wrapped up the first of its two three-day sessions at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

The Mercedes superstar shrugged off two days of limited running due to car trouble earlier this week to top the timesheet today with a fastest lap of 1min 33.669secs. He posted his best under lights, which was also quickest for this week, after taking over for teammate George Russell, who was right behind him on the final classification.

F1 Aramco Pre-Season Testing 2026 continues next week at BIC with the second three days of action from Wednesday to Friday (18 to 20 February).

It will be the final opportunity for the teams to gather the all-important data they need to get their all-new 2026 cars ready for this year’s FIA F1 World Championship, which flags off 6 to 8 March in Melbourne, Australia, with the first of 24 rounds this season.

Antonelli tried to make up for the lost track time from days one and two by going for 61 laps this evening. He finished 0.249s seconds quicker than Russell on the day in the Mercedes F1 W17, with Russell completing 78 laps.

Lewis Hamilton put Ferrari third on the times after testing for the whole day in their SF-26. He was 0.540s off the leader’s pace while going for 150 laps.

Oscar Piastri was in the MCL40 the full day for back-to-back F1 Constructors’ World Champions McLaren. He ranked fourth today 0.880s behind, and was the day’s busiest driver with 161 laps.

The Red Bull Racing pair of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar followed in fifth and sixth, respectively, in their RB22. Verstappen was 1.672s from Antonelli after running in the morning and Hadjar was 1.941s back.

The top 10 was completed by Esteban Ocon (+2.084s) in Haas’s VF-26, Franco Colapinto (+2.137s) for Alpine who ran the whole day in their A526, Oliver Bearman (+2.303s) for Haas, and Nico Hulkenberg (+2.622s) in Audi’s R26.

The rest of the classification featured Alexander Albon (+2.996s) in Williams’s FW48, Liam Lawson (+3.139s) as Racing Bulls’s lone tester today in their VCARB 03, Carlos Sainz (+3.517s) for Williams, Sergio Perez (+3.696s) in Cadillac’s CA01, Gabriel Bortoleto (+3.867s) for Audi, Lance Stroll (+4.496s) driving Aston Martin’s AMR26 the full day, and Valtteri Bottas (+5.103s) for Cadillac.