Charles Leclerc ensured Ferrari ended preseason testing in style with a scintillating set of late laps in Bahrain that will increase hype around the Italian team’s 2026 chances.
Leclerc finished the final day nearly 0.9 seconds clear of the next quickest car, which was that of new world champion Lando Norris in the McLaren, which is a sizeable margin over one lap in modern F1.
The performance of the red cars, which include a very strong race simulation in the morning by Leclerc, will be eye-catching ahead of F1’s season opener at the Australian Grand Prix on March 8.
Leclerc repeatedly posted the quickest lap time across the final hour before demonstrating another rocket start off the grid at the end of the session, which appears to be an area the Italian manufacturer is a significant step ahead compared with the rest of the field.
One caveat is that no-one in Formula 1 believes Mercedes has come close to showing its full deck of cards, either on the final day or across the two weeks in Bahrain as a whole, but there is also no way of knowing whether Ferrari has come close to doing so either.
Leclerc’s final hour ensured Ferrari shared the headlines of the final day of testing would be shared between themselves and the shambolic Aston Martin-Honda project, which was limited to just six laps.