Charles Leclerc topped the final day of Formula 1 pre-season testing with a blistering lap to underline Ferrari’s status as genuine contenders for the opening races of 2026.
Leclerc was 0.879s quicker than second-placed Lando Norris, who could be on the backfoot at the start of his title defence when the season begins at the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8, live on Sky Sports F1.
Ferrari elected to run Leclerc throughout Friday, with Lewis Hamilton watching on from the garage, and the Monegasque driver also impressed with his race simulation on the last day.
Max Verstappen was third at 1.117s behind Leclerc and George Russell was 1.205s off the Ferrari pace but Mercedes are still seen by most in the paddock as favourites for the first race in Melbourne.
Verstappen appeared to be pushing hard but did not have the single lap pace of Leclerc, while Russell was three tenths slower than Mercedes’ best time of Bahrain testing, which came from Kimi Antonelli on Thursday – suggesting they were holding back.
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Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes has no energy coming out of Turn 10 as he is unable to get his car going again, leading to the red flag
Antonelli ran in the morning session but was limited to 66 laps due to a loss of pneumatic pressure in the engine, which cost the Italian teenager over two-and-a-half hours as Mercedes needed to change the power unit.
They managed to get Russell out on track relatively quickly but he perhaps did not show his car’s true potential on his way to completing 82 laps.
More to follow…
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