F1 Bahrain pre-season testing live commentary and updates - day 5
Follow for updates of day five from F1 pre-season testing for the 2026 season in Bahrain
Live Standings
Live Text
Speaking to F1TV, James Vowles has said "Red Bull looked really good until we started talking about their power unit and they turned it down" which is amusing. Of course it is never that simple, but it is true the moment one team appears to be cranking up the pace, they immediately reverse into the pack to try to hide again.
Verstappen nips out of the Red Bull garage equipped with some brand new C3 tyres, which is always exciting as the shadows begin to lengthen on the Bahrain circuit. But will it be a long run or a quali run?
Still no sign of Hamilton as we head into this final quarter of the day. The Ferrari driver has completed 43 laps today having lost a huge chunk of the morning to a chassis issue. Which is a shame because we want to see that 180-degree spinning rear wing again.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
The Australian driver did produce the fastest final sector of anyone though, which could be down to looking after his tyres over the lap or looking after his battery deployment for the final sector. Or both!
Piastri attempts to wind up his McLaren for another quick lap but locks up into Turn 1 on the test tyres and the lap quickly goes away. After a recharge lap he goes again and pops in a 1m33.116s which isn't an improvement overall but still the second-fastest lap of the day in total.
'aj.hartley' asks if the 107% qualifying cut-off still exists and we can confirm it does. So yes, in the cold light of the times right now, Cadillac would be sweating over that, but there has been no outright performance running from the US squad today so this is definitely not representative of their pace relative to the top times seen today. We're not saying they'll jump up the order dramatically, but they are comfortably fast enough to qualify for a grand prix.
Our eyes in the paddock spot Stroll and Alonso sitting together in the Aston Martin hospitality with not a lot to do. It hasn't been the pre-season that team had hoped for at all.
Piastri plants his McLaren to the top of the times with a 1m32.861s - the first 1m32s of the test - using a fresh set of C3 medium tyres. The performance running is coming steadily.
Antonelli is going through a series of constant speed tests in the Mercedes which, when you are used to seeing cars going flat chat and through the gears, it always strikes like there's an issue. But the Italian is all good and pits as planned.
Perez is back on track, this time using the test tyre, and marginally improves with a 1m39.323s but that isn't troubling any of the frontrunners. Given this is the start of a long run, that's not a surprise.
Alonso's stopped Aston Martin has made it back to the pitlane and is being wheeled down to the team garage for inspection. The car is entirely covered by a sheet to stop prying eyes getting a good look at it.
Verstappen has the best lap time but only the best sector time in the first sector (Norris holds that honour for sectors two and three). Given the opening part of the lap is mostly two long straights, that points to the impressive power deployment and top speed of the Red Bull Ford powertrain.
Meanwhile, Hulkenberg in the Audi goes fifth with a 1m33.987s on the C4 tyres.
But all of that is nothing compared to Verstappen's latest lap, as he produces the new fastest lap of testing with a 1m33.162s - taking a couple of tenths out of his previous overall best.
Antonelli, the fastest driver from the first Bahrain test, makes an early attempt to get that title back as he posts a 1m33.875s to go third for Mercedes.
But it is short-lived, as Piastri takes third from him for McLaren with a 1m33.624s.
Of the latest runners, Perez has joined the action in the Cadillac for the first time this afternoon. F1's newest team is notching up the laps, Bottas did 58 of them this morning, but they are going nowhere near performance running as they are over six seconds off the pace.
Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
Aston Martin safely retrieved and the track has returned to green flag running. Plenty of eager drivers after that 15-minute delay - still more than enough time to get in a race simulation.
We're still under a red flag as the Aston Martin mechanics arrive at the stricken car which had its yellow lights flashing to indicate its electrical status wasn't safe to touch. That's been resolved and the JCB is in position to lift the AMR26 to safety.
Thanks Ben, I'll try my best. So, 24 hours ago I was stepping away from live coverage under a red flag for Stroll's off in the Aston Martin. Now, I'm stepping back on to our live coverage under a red flag for Alonso's stoppage in the Aston Martin. Just a coincidence, but pretty weird.
A crane has intervened to clear the stricken Aston, but it's taking quite some time, so I'll leave you in Haydn Cobb's capable hands for the remainder of the afternoon.
What a tough time Aston has been having. The car looks slow, and this is its third major issue in two days.
Alonso exits the AMR26. Red flag.
Alonso's Aston has stopped on track.
It's not just Cadillac that has been in the garage since testing resumed; we're yet to see Albon's Williams back in action.
Lap tally per team:
Mercedes 95 (Russell 77, Antonelli 18)
McLaren 82 (Norris 72, Piastri 10)
Haas 78 (Bearman 69, Ocon 9)
Williams 71 (Albon)
Red Bull 68 (Verstappen)
Alpine 60 (Colapinto)
Cadillac 58 (Bottas)
Aston Martin 65 (Alonso)
Racing Bulls 48 (Lawson)
Audi 42 (Bortoleto 29, Hulkenberg 13)
Ferrari 27 (Hamilton)
There's a personal best for Hamilton, but it's just a 1m38.316s, so he remains down the order.
Again, no sign of Cadillac on track since the session restarted. This has been a common theme this week.
Hulkenberg is up to fifth, 1m34.684s, with C3 tyres. Audi is well clear of the rest of the midfield – for now.
Interestingly, when setting the quickest lap of the week so far, Verstappen was fastest in the first sector but didn't improve on his personal references in the latter two.
About three laps ago, Hamilton was a few seconds behind Alonso's Aston Martin. Within one lap, he'd passed the green machine – now, he's well clear. The AMR26 sounds impressive with its rasping roar and machine-gun off-throttle overrun, but its bark is very much worse than its bite – at Turn 11, it's visibly slower than others here.
Verstappen outpaced Norris' benchmark by a mere 0.009s, that's a 1m33.444s. He's on the prototype tyres.
Max Verstappen goes fastest!
Antonelli is up to fourth in 1m34.523s, four tenths off team-mate Russell.
No fewer than seven cars on track right now, but nobody lapping very competitively.
There's a first time for Hulkenberg today, a 1m35.864s on the C2 tyre. That's just six tenths slower than Bortoleto this morning.
Meanwhile, Ferrari has reverted to a conventional rear wing...
The Briton improves to a 1m39.423s, which is far from the SF-26's potential.
Hamilton goes straight out of the pits.
Here we go again!
"An interesting air-brake Ferrari have there, are movable devices allowed to aid braking in Formula 1?" barnet asks.
As far as we're aware, there's not reason to believe this wing breaches the technical rules regarding active aerodynamics (a.k.a. movable devices).
By: Autosport Staff
