Ferrari innovation catches the eye as Mercedes again leads McLaren in F1 pre-season testing

An innovative rear wing solution from Ferrari received plenty of attention on day two of the final pre-season test in Bahrain, as Mercedes again marginally beat McLaren to the fastest time.

Lewis Hamilton suffered a disjointed morning in the car on what is set to be his final track time before the Australian Grand Prix, but during his early laps the upper element of his car’s rear wing would fully rotate in straight-line mode. Effectively what was last year’s DRS flap is now part of the active aerodynamics in conjunction with the front wing, and rather than simply opening a slot in the middle, the top element would flip upside down, creating lift rather than downforce, while still reducing drag.

“Ferrari, well done to them – they are coming up with great innovations and they are moving forward, and I think they are competitive as they are,” Williams team principal James Vowles told F1 TV, before highlighting Red Bull and Mercedes’ pace, too.

Although he didn't have a trouble-free day, Hamilton did get a lot of attention with Ferrari's new rear wing. Sam Bagnall/Getty Images

Ferrari did revert to its previous specification of wing later in the day as Hamilton carried out qualifying simulations – having missed out on his race run due to his morning delays – and the seven-time world champion ended up fourth fastest behind Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.

Antonelli drove in the afternoon and went to the top on a 1m32.803s –the fastest time seen this pre-season so far – as he completed 79 laps on another strong day for Mercedes, following on from 77 laps for George Russell in the morning. The margin of the advantage over McLaren on Wednesday had been 0.010s, and on Thursday it was 0.058s, with the C3 tire used by the top four for their fastest times.

Piastri’s lap also came in the afternoon, although he did suffer a brief stoppage just before the race start simulation at the end of the day, parking his car on the inside of Turn 1 before rejoining the action.

The Australian was 0.301s ahead of Verstappen, who posted a 1m33.162s, but the Red Bull carried out a race simulation that was slightly quicker than the McLaren during the afternoon running.

Lando Norris ended up fifth on the softer C4 compound, while Franco Colapinto in sixth – a second off the pace – used the C5 late in the day to post his lap. Of more importance to Alpine will be the 120 laps Colapinto managed on his final day in the car.

There was further encouragement for Audi with Nico Hulkenberg seventh on a 1m33.987s, using the C4 tire and completing 73 laps. That was important track time after Gabriel Bortoleto was limited to just 29 laps during the morning session, and the top speed was particularly impressive as both Audi drivers topped that metric.

Encouraging amounts of track time for Cadillac's new car – unlike Aston Martin's... Guido De Bortoli/Getty Images

Cadillac got back on track with more consistent running as Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas covered 108 laps between them, with Bottas completing a race simulation prior to the lunch break. Perez then took over for qualifying runs but did need the C5 tire to post a 1m35.369s, the team’s fastest time of testing so far some 2.5s off Antonelli as the pace starts to ramp up towards the end of the week.

While Cadillac could find itself at the back of the field in Australia – as expected for a brand-new constructor – if there’s a team that could fall behind it it’s Aston Martin. While there appears to be more pace in the Adrian Newey-designed AMR26, reliability issues continue to hamper the team, with Fernando Alonso grinding to a halt midway through a race simulation with what appeared to be a transmission issue to end his day three hours early.