Antonelli ends Day 2 of second pre-season Bahrain test on top ahead of Piastri and Verstappen

Kimi Antonelli set the pace on Day 2 of the second 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain, with the Mercedes racer heading the timesheets from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Lando Norris had led the way during Thursday’s morning session on a 1m 33.453s – but as the times came down further across the afternoon, it was Antonelli who ended the day on top with his effort of 1m 32.803s.

Lewis Hamilton was the first to hit the track when the day’s second segment got underway at 1500 local time, the Ferrari man seemingly keen to get more mileage after completing only five laps earlier.

Others soon started to join the fray, with some drivers taking over from their team mates for the afternoon session including Piastri, Antonelli and Haas’ Ollie Bearman.

Shortly after Verstappen beat Norris’ earlier time to put himself at the top of the timesheets less than one hour into the afternoon, fellow World Champion Fernando Alonso brought out the red flags after stopping his Aston Martin out on track.

After the AMR26 was safely cleared away, the action resumed with just under three hours left on the clock for the teams and drivers to continue with their programmes. Several set about adding further laps to their tally, with Hamilton making up for lost time by gaining further mileage while Antonelli was racking up a solid number of tours.

Some also appeared to be pushing as the sun began to set and more representative conditions started to kick in at the Bahrain International Circuit, as the likes of Hamilton and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto experienced lock-ups.

Others took the opportunity to complete some soft tyre runs, with Williams’ Alex Albon and Sergio Perez in the Cadillac both switching to the red-walled rubber during the latter stages of Thursday afternoon.

The name at the top of the board continued to change as the session progressed; Piastri had bettered Verstappen’s effort to go fastest, before Antonelli displaced the McLaren in the P1 slot with a time set during the final hour.

As was the case on Day 1, Thursday’s session ended with a practice new race starts light procedure – though there were seemingly issues for Piastri in the closing minutes of Day 2, the Australian pulling over to the side of the track before then getting going again.

In terms of the timesheets, Antonelli’s lap of 1m 32.803s remained unbeaten, with Piastri 0.058s adrift in second while Verstappen – who clocked the day’s highest lap count of 139 – was just over three-tenths back from Antonelli’s time in third.

Hamilton slotted into fourth, while Norris’ morning session lap kept him in fifth place ahead of Colapinto, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, Mercedes’ George Russell, the Haas of Esteban Ocon and Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls.

Albon was 11th for Williams, followed by Gabriel Bortoleto in the Audi, Bearman, Perez and Alonso, the latter completing just 68 laps after failing to rejoin the session following his earlier stoppage. Valtteri Bottas was the final classified name for Cadillac, with six drivers having not participated in Thursday’s running while their team mates took over driving duties.

There is now just one day of 2026 pre-season testing in Bahrain remaining, with the teams and drivers set to return on Friday for a final chance to run their cars ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8.