F1 Bahrain pre-season testing live commentary and updates - day 3

There it is, Lawson is now on 79 laps so leads the morning session for most mileage. 

Want to read all about that session again? Well, go on then...

'Bar-Tech' asking about Cadillac after Bottas completed just 37 laps this morning. It's because he caused a red flag by stopping on track in the opening hour and the American outfit took two hours to fix the issue before putting its veteran back out. 

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 3 morning results

Away from F1, Alpine announced yesterday that it will depart WEC Hypercar at the end of 2026 as part of continuous cuts from Renault of its motorsport projects. 

Gary Watkins explains that, while it's not a huge blow to the championship, the warning signs are still there following the other departures of Lamborghini and Porsche. 

Those who are running this afternoon

McLaren: Piastri

Mercedes: Antonelli

Red Bull: Hadjar

Ferrari: Hamilton

Williams: Albon

Racing Bulls: Lawson

Aston Martin: Stroll

Haas: Ocon

Audi: Hulkenberg

Alpine: Colapinto

Cadillac: Perez

It's certainly been a slow opening 10 minutes, with only Franco Colapinto and Iscak Hadjar currently out on track.

Franco Colapinto, Alpine

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

With us now in the final session of the first pre-season test for 2026, do you have any questions about the week for us to answer?

If so, get them in! 

The session still hasn't really picked up yet, with only five drivers - Piastri, Lawson, Hadjar, Ocon and Perez - out. Clearly a very productive day down at Racing Bulls, as Lawson continues to clock up the mileage with now 94 laps for the day.

'formeleinsbharg' asking about potential Aston Martin buyers if Lawrence has had enough given its tough pre-season.

I think it's far too early to start talking about that and the potential of Lawrence being interested in selling mid-season. For the amount he's invested, he won't want to just jump ship at the first opportunity and he'll very much know that if he were to sell that team, it'll most likely end his son's F1 career. He's in it for the longhaul. 

Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

Going back to lap count and Lawson, who has just gone back out, is approaching the century mark with 97 laps. Piastri has the second most with 81 tours with Russell third on 78.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

'Geoff' asking if Aston woes will cause Alonso to leave F1 at the end of 2026. Given his contract expires this year, it's a genuine possibility. 

Your question reminds me of what he said at the end of the 2025 season finale: " I think Abu Dhabi next year, maybe it's more special."

What exactly did he mean by that? 

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images

On to the serious matters, still no sign of Russell in the Mercedes in this session and it is too long now to be put down to an extended lunch break. The last major talking point was how badly the mechanics struggled to take the nose off Russell's car in the garage. They got it off, but has it been even harder to get it back on?

'andrew1oakley' regarding your concerns about the big field spread in lap time, those worries are totally understandable when looking at the timing screen and knowing that we are over halfway through the entire pre-season testing running (including Barcelona shakedown in this). But most teams stated they were not looking at performance running in this test, in terms of outright lap times, while almost all will keep their powder dry until the first race.

That could mean three things happen: The gaps get smaller as those further back turn up the wick. Or everyone turns up the wick and the gaps stay the same. Or get bigger.

It is why the best lap times need a big pinch of salt. It is just part of a much wider picture that we won't see all of until Melbourne.

But, it is fair to expect a bigger field spread at the start of any new rules era vs the last race of the previous era.

At the moment nobody is troubling any top lap times. Albon and Perez are currently quickest on track but they are lapping in the 1m43s on long runs.

'Doncarloss: Do teams only have 1 completed car here, or 2 cars?'

So, each team will have different set-ups, but the rule is one car per team on track.

They will have multiple chassis, power units, gearboxes and the like which can changed between, so cars could be half-built in the garage to provide a quicker turnaround if switching over. Some might opt to have just the one car ready to run and all those spares in the garage and the trucks ready to roll out. It depends on how many spares each team has available which is also dependent or wear, damage and other reasons they might not be able to be used.

Lawson, who leads the lap count today in terms of per driver with 110, nips in and out of pitlane as the track begins to get a little busier with Perez, Albon, Ocon, Colapinto, Hadjar and Piastri all in action.

Antonelli has appeared for the first time this afternoon, having taken over from Russell for Mercedes, so their absence is over. But the German squad did miss the opening 90 minutes of this session which is certainly more than they would have liked.

Just two hours to go in this first Bahrain pre-season test. It is unlikely we'll see a glory run but will anyone fancy it to topple Russell from the headline time?

'Lotus109: OK so is Red Bull sandbagging today after everyone was raving about their deployment yesterday?' 

As referenced earlier, Red Bull's Pierre Wache says it is behind Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren according to the team's own analysis, while Verstappen is convinced Mercedes is sandbagging. The question is, who has the heaviest sandbags?