F1 Bahrain Testing LIVE: Who will be quickest on vital final day of pre-season?

What happened on Day 2?

In case you need a quick reminder of what happened yesterday, it was Kimi Antonelli who laid down a new marker for Mercedes as he narrowly beat McLaren's Oscar Piastri to the fastest time. 

Perhaps the biggest headlines were made by Ferrari, who turned heads first thing in the morning by debuting an innovative 'upside down' rear wing that was seen rotating a full 180 when the new-for-2026 active aero closed at the end of straights. 

Lewis Hamilton had a disrupted last day as his pre-season programme came to an end, with the seven-time world champion losing three hours in the morning due to a problem with his Ferrari, believed to be on the chassis-side.

When he re-emerged, Ferrari had reverted to a more traditional rear wing configuration, but there was still time for Hamilton to catch the eye with some very fast practice starts. 

Aston Martin's troubled start to F1 2026 continued as Fernando Alonso broke down, causing the only red flag of Thursday. The stoppage means Aston Martin is yet to complete a race simulation during testing and leaves the team on the back foot. 

Final day of F1 pre-season testing

Good morning and welcome to Crash.net's live coverage of the third day of the second F1 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain. 

Seemingly just like that, we arrive on the final day of pre-season! Friday will provide the 11 teams a crucial final eight hours of running before F1 heads to Australia for the season-opener in two weeks. 

As ever, we will be bringing you all the action from Sakhir, which gets underway at 7am.