Leclerc brings Ferrari to the fore as Bahrain F1 test concludes

Charles Leclerc produced the fastest time of pre-season testing and took Ferrari nearly a second clear of the field on the final day in Bahrain.

Kimi Antonelli’s 1m32.803s was the previous best time of the six days on track, but Leclerc produced an impressive qualifying simulation on Friday evening to post a 1m31.992s on the C4 compound tire to finish the day 0.879s clear of Lando Norris. The Ferrari has been quick through much of pre-season, but it was the clearest indication of pace from Fred Vasseur’s team to round off an encouraging testing program.

“It has been a positive test overall, but we have to keep in mind that the priority was to complete a lot of mileage and build a strong foundation for the season,” team principal Fred Vasseur said. “From this point of view, the test was productive and allowed us to gather valuable data and improve our understanding of the car.

“As always in testing, it is very difficult to draw conclusions in terms of performance, as we don’t know the programs of the other teams. Our focus was on ourselves and on making continuous progress.”

The top four teams from last year appear to remain the front-runners heading into the season opener in Australia in two weeks’ time, and all four improved late in the day on Friday. McLaren's Norris was first of those to set his best time of the day, using the C3 tire, ending up a quarter of a second clear of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.

A gap of over 1.1s between Verstappen and Leclerc can be partly explained by the tire offset – C3 being run by the Dutchman, too – but rivals also suggest the Red Bull power unit has been run far from its full potential during the final week of testing.

Mercedes similarly did not show its hand despite also running at the same time as Ferrari, with George Russell’s fastest lap of a 1m33.197s also coming on the C3 compound. Russell’s 82 laps were a solid return as the prevailing feeling remains that Mercedes has plenty of performance to show after a strong final week of mileage.

• Russell thinks Mercedes needs work to make it four-team fight at the front in Australia

Oliver Bearman completed a strong pre-season showing for Haas, which logged the second-most laps of any team. Joe Portlock/Getty Images

The final hour of running saw multiple improvements as teams started to push their low-fuel performance, with Pierre Gasly fifth for Alpine but opting for the C5 tire, the softest compound available. Gasly appeared to need the tire offset to just edge ahead of Oliver Bearman in the Haas, as an impressive pre-season came to a close for Ayao Komatsu’s team.

Bearman completed 88 laps in the afternoon to add to 82 in the morning for Esteban Ocon, leaving Haas second only to Mercedes in terms of the lap totals. Both drivers carried out race simulations, before Bearman added qualifying running and pit stop practice late in the day.

Arvid Lindblad set an unofficial record for the most laps completed by one driver during a day of testing in Bahrain, with 165 to his name as the rookie prepares for his race debut in Melbourne. That was in stark contrast to Aston Martin’s final day, that ended after just six laps for Lance Stroll due to a Honda battery-related issue and shortage of power unit components.

Cadillac’s final day of pre-season testing saw the team fall just one lap short of three figures, with Valtteri Bottas limited to just 38 laps in the afternoon. The Finn did post the team’s fastest lap of the week with a 1m35.290s on the C3 tire, showing further performance steps as Cadillac prepares for its first race weekend.