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

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.

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.

'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.

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.

'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.

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?

'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

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

'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

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.

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! 

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

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

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. 

F1 Bahrain pre-season test - Day 3 morning results

'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

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

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

We're now into the final 10 minutes of the session and Russell has completed the most mileage with 78 laps, but Lawson isn't far behind on 77 and it looks as though he's about to surpass him with the VCARB 03 still out of its garage.

1. Russell - 78

2. Lawson - 77

3. Piastri - 69

4. Hamilton - 65

5. Sainz - 65

6. Colapinto - 64

7. Bearman - 62

8. Verstappen - 61

9. Bortoleto - 58

10. Stroll - 53

11. Bottas - 32

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

It's probably worth noting that Russell is the first driver of the week to complete a lap that's sub 1m34s, so the times are getting quicker by the day! 

'jjbhogal' asking about which cars are on track and who is in the pitlane. Currently, Russell and Sainz are in their respective garages, while the rest are out. 

Thanks Ronald, so in other words: 

*"Breaking: F1 nose offers the most competition Mercedes will face all season!"

*a joke

Our roaming reporter Ronald is still in the pitlane, so here is a picture of Hamilton for your enjoyment. If it wasn't for that HP logo, I feel as though the Ferrari would be one of the nicest liveries on the grid! 

'ReneKapp' says Russell must be very close to a full race distance. Well, the Mercedes driver has now completed 78 laps so he's actually surpassed that, given the Bahrain GP is 'only' 57 tours. 

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

It also got your scribe thinking, what is your favourite driver press conference moment from over the years? Sebastian Vettel has a few good ones... 

The most interesting part of this week has perhaps been the media sessions, rather than the on-track action. Because there has been some corkers, from Verstappen's fiery rant on the 2026 regs to Stroll's downbeat assessment of the situation at Aston Martin.

My favourite of all, however, was Hadjar's sarcastic response when asked about his crash in the Barcelona shakedown and how Gasly endured something similar in 2019.

“When I crashed, I thought about it directly, I thought about Pierre. So I went on Twitter and I read everything, and I was like, ‘I'm screwed for the whole season’ and that's how I moved on, honestly," said Hadjar.

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

And with that, my stint on the live blog comes to an end for today and I'll leave you in the capable hands of Ed Hardy - thanks for joining on the early shift! 

One final nugget from Ronald for now, lots of drivers are reportedly doing practice starts in this morning's session, which he says "do indeed look and sound a lot more complex than ever before, including that much longer build-up."