Charles Leclerc tops morning test on Day 1 in Bahrain
18th February 2026Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the morning session of the first pre-season test of week two at Bahrain, ahead of the opening round of the season.
Feature image credit: CC
The teams and drivers gathered once again for the final week of testing in Bahrain, hosted at the Bahrain International Circuit, and the first four hours have now been completed.
Leclerc was the fastest driver of the 11 cars out on track, topping the time sheets with a time of 1m 33.739s. Compared to our earlier report, the top three remained the same.
The reigning world champion, Lando Norris, of McLaren, occupied second, three-tenths adrift of the Monegasque ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, in third, fourth-tenths behind.
It was a straightforward test for most. Despite Racing Bulls having a temporary power issue out on track, with Arvid Lindbald, the team continued without further issues.
However, the same could not be said for Cadillac and Red Bull.
It was two and a half hours before the American squad got any meaningful running. After the first four hours, Sergio Perez of Cadillac could only best 11th fastest, four seconds off the pace after 24 completed laps.
Red Bull had the least amount of laps completed of the entire session with only 13 laps done by Isack Hadjar, who will is set to take up driving duties all day today. His best time came at sixth fastest, two seconds behind Leclerc’s best time.
On the other side of that coin, Lindblad completed the most laps with 75 done, five more than Leclerc, who clocked up the second-highest lap count.
The timing board
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 1m 33.739s
- Lando Norris, McLaren +0.313s
- Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +0.419s
- Alexander Albon, Williams +1.951s
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine +2.159s
- Isack Hadjar, Red Bull +2.449s
- Esteban Ocon, Haas +2.679s
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +2.797s
- Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +3.002s
- Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +3.030s
- Sergio Perez, Cadillac +4.452s
Read more Formula 1 here:
- F1 confirms circuit extension with calendar rotation
- Russell sets the pace after first hour of testing day 3
- Leclerc fastest after day 2 of Bahrain pre-season test
- Norris fastest after day 1 of Bahrain pre-season testing
- Max Verstappen tops morning on day 1 of Bahrain pre-season test
- Who is driving on day 1 of pre-season testing in Bahrain?
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
