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Three-day test suggests Red Bull and Aston Martin have work to do, while McLaren and Ferrari look to be favourites.
The one fact that leaps out is that Red Bull completed the fewest laps, completing 304 compared to Mercedes who completed 458. While nobody is saying that the Austrian team is likely to continue on the downward spiral witnessed at the end of 2024, it does look as though it will once again be relying on the brilliance of Max Verstappen, who will obviously be harbouring his own thoughts about the future.
Liam Lawson completed 149 laps – only just eclipsing Lance Stroll who was unwell on Friday – and carried out the team’s only race simulation of the test, the times suggesting the Australian was almost a second off Lando Norris’ pace in his simulation that same day.
While we are not writing off the Austrian team, unless there is a significant turnaround – which is unlikely when you consider the rules overhaul next year – it will spend the year playing catch-up to McLaren and Ferrari, whilst deflecting media questions over Verstappen’s future.
Despite the excitement about the team going forward, Aston Martin faces another year of decline, which is exactly what Fernando Alonso won’t want to hear.
The team failed to carry out a single race simulation, and though Stroll posted the eighth best time of the test, and the car appears more drivable, it is feared that, with an eye on 2026, the team will start near the back and is unlikely to progress much further.
That said, Adrian Newey started work yesterday – Saturday 1 March – and while his main focus is on next year’s car, it is highly likely the design guru will be called upon to help improve the AMR25.
Again, it looks likely to be business as usual for Sauber – in its final season before morphing into Audi – and for this very reason we see reason to raise expectations.
On long runs and single-lap pace the Swiss team was struggling, Gabriel Bortoleto’s almost 2s off Norris’ pace when they were completing their race sims on Thursday.
Though the RB – Racing Bull – may well be the prettiest car on the 2025 grid, certainly in terms of liveries, looks count for little.
Isack Hadjar completed the second-most laps (243), but other than that livery there was little to impress about the team over the whole three days.
Yuki Tsunoda will no doubt give his all, but the popular little Japanese driver will no doubt be looking elsewhere having failed to win promotion to the big team.
As is the case with drivers at the big team, in the overall scheme of things RB appears to be there to make up the numbers.
Haas could prove to be one of the big surprises.
Though Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were forever at the wrong end of the timesheets it should be noted that other than completing the second-most laps almost all the American team’s running was on high fuel.
Ayao Komatsu continues to run the team the way he wants it, professionally, and while the test may have frustrated some of its fans, others will have noted Ocon’s pace during his race sim on Friday.
Under its previous boss, Haas usually grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but under Komatsu’s guidance the team appears to be heading in the right direction, and could well end up challenging at the front of the midfield this year.
Some feel that 2025 could be a break-through year for Williams. Though there remains scepticism about Carlos Sainz’ decision to join the Grove outfit, there really does appear to be a genuine air of ‘can do, will do’ with the team.
Like its rivals, all eyes are on 2026, but the behind-the-scenes improvements, not to mention the fact that others will be even more distracted, could see the Grove outfit make a significant improvement.
Sainz ended the test quickest, and while this was no doubt all about fuel loads, teammate Alex Albon was third quickest the following day, albeit on the softer rubber.
The Grove team will head to Melbourne feeling fairly confident, and, based on those three days in Bahrain, not to mention James Vowles hard work getting the outfit back on an even footing, with good reason.
Alpine will have come away from Bahrain feeling confident, and with good reason.
Albeit briefly, Pierre Gasly topped the timesheets on Friday, before losing out to big guns Verstappen, Russell and Piastri, but his pace, combined with Jack Doohan’s race sim pace on Thursday give cause to believe that the French team can be best of the rest this year.
In that battle it appears to be up against Williams and Haas, but the opinion coming out of the test is that the French team is learning from its previous mistakes.
For 2026 it switches to Mercedes, even more reason to expect a significant improvement, however, other than the unwarranted pressure on Doohan’s shoulders courtesy of Briatore and Colapinto, the fact is that the ‘big four’ will claim the lion’s share of the points, leaving the likes of Alpine to battle for the remaining scraps.
Mercedes looked good, especially when the temperatures dropped, but really doesn’t look as though it has the wherewithal to match McLaren and Ferrari.
Though George Russell was quickest on the final day, he failed to match the pace of Sainz from Thursday.
Kimi Antonelli gave a good account of himself, his race sim on Thursday being particularly impressive.
There is a positive vibe coming out of the German team, but, other than the cool conditions which allowed the W16 to flourish, one has to wonder if it is enough. Also, there is the little matter of the 2026 rules overhaul, the German team keen to repeat the success of 2014.
On his race sim Charles Leclerc was only marginally off Norris’ pace, though some, including McLaren, admit the Briton benefitted from the cool conditions.
As ever, fuel loads mask the true performance, but there is no doubt that there is a good feeling about Ferrari heading into the season.
Of course, there is the distraction of a certain new member of the team, but the current media frenzy will soon wear off… we hope.
Lewis Hamilton appears to be settling into the team well, and the presence of John Elkann underlines how important the seven-time world champion’s presence is to the Italian outfit.
Thus far, Fred Vasseur and his team have played down the test, but the Frenchman insists that there is more to come from the car. Nonetheless, heading to Melbourne the SF-25 appears to be second-best to the McLaren.
Looking at lap times one would be forgiven for thinking that McLaren dropped the ball over the winter, for Norris could only manage 12th and Oscar Piastri 18th.
However, on their race sims both drivers were around 0.3s a lap quicker than their closest rivals. 0.3s a lap, do the maths.
Don’t make the mistake that in Melbourne the Woking outfit will come out all guns blazing and go on to dominate the season, that isn’t going to happen.
But at this point in time, McLaren has continued where it left off in 2024, the class of the field, the one to beat.
As did the Woking team last season, rivals will no doubt seek game-changing updates, which may or may not do the trick, but let’s not forget that massive elephant in the room… the 2026 rules overhaul.
Other than that, the other factor that will probably work against the team is the rivalry between its two drivers, a rivalry that could provide much of the entertainment this year.
We may be right, we may be wrong, after all this is based on just three days of running in unusual conditions, with a number of unusual stoppages and the fact that there were no genuine blood and glory qualifying runs.
But isn’t that the fun part… anticipating Melbourne and what happens of Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
Driver Test Mileage
Driver
Team
Laps
Miles
Kms
Ocon
Haas
260
874.4
1407.1
Hadjar
RB
243
817.2
1315.1
Russell
Mercedes
232
780.2
1255.6
Antonelli
Mercedes
226
760.0
1223.1
Leclerc
Ferrari
220
739.8
1190.6
Tsunoda
RB
211
709.6
1141.9
Doohan
Alpine
209
702.9
1131.1
Albon
Williams
200
672.6
1082.4
Bearman
Haas
197
662.5
1066.2
Gasly
Alpine
196
659.1
1060.8
Piastri
McLaren
195
655.8
1055.3
Sainz
Williams
195
655.8
1055.3
Norris
McLaren
186
625.5
1006.6
Hulkenberg
Stake
180
605.3
974.2
Bortoleto
Stake
174
585.2
941.7
Alonso
Aston Martin
173
581.8
936.3
Hamilton
Ferrari
162
544.8
876.7
Verstappen
Red Bull
155
521.3
838.9
Lawson
Red Bull
149
501.1
806.4
Stroll
Aston Martin
133
447.3
719.8
Team Test Mileage
Team
Laps
Miles
Kms
Mercedes
458
1540.2
2478.7
Haas
457
1536.9
2473.3
RB
454
1526.8
2457.0
Alpine
405
1362.0
2191.9
Williams
395
1328.4
2137.7
Ferrari
382
1284.6
2067.4
McLaren
381
1281.3
2062.0
Stake
354
1190.5
1915.8
Aston Martin
306
1029.1
1656.1
Red Bull
304
1022.3
1645.2
Engine Manufacturer Test Mileage
Engine Manufacturer
Laps
Miles
Kms
Mercedes
1540
5178.9
8334.5
Ferrari
1193
4012.0
6456.5
Honda
758
2549.1
4102.3
Renault
405
1362.0
2191.9
Best Times
Date
Driver
Team
Tyres
Time
Gap
27-Feb
Sainz
Williams
C3
1:29.348
135.500 mph
27-Feb
Hamilton
Ferrari
C3
1:29.379
0.031
28-Feb
Russell
Mercedes
C3
1:29.545
0.197
28-Feb
Verstappen
Red Bull
C3
1:29.566
0.218
28-Feb
Albon
Williams
C4
1:29.650
0.302
27-Feb
Antonelli
Mercedes
C3
1:29.784
0.436
28-Feb
Gasly
Alpine
C3
1:30.040
0.692
27-Feb
Stroll
Aston Martin
C3
1:30.229
0.881
27-Feb
Lawson
Red Bull
C3
1:30.252
0.904
28-Feb
Hamilton
Ferrari
C4
1:30.345
0.997
27-Feb
Doohan
Alpine
C3
1:30.368
1.020
26-Feb
Norris
McLaren
C3
1:30.430
1.082
28-Feb
Tsunoda
RB
C3
1:30.497
1.149
27-Feb
Hadjar
RB
C4
1:30.675
1.327
27-Feb
Alonso
Aston Martin
C3
1:30.700
1.352
28-Feb
Ocon
Haas
C4
1:30.728
1.380
28-Feb
Leclerc
Ferrari
C3
1:30.811
1.463
27-Feb
Piastri
McLaren
C3
1:30.821
1.473
27-Feb
Bortoleto
Stake
C3
1:31.057
1.709
27-Feb
Hulkenberg
Stake
C3
1:31.457
2.109
26-Feb
Albon
Williams
C3
1:31.573
2.225
26-Feb
Hadjar
RB
C3
1:31.631
2.283
28-Feb
Bearman
Haas
C3
1:32.361
3.013
27-Feb
Ocon
Haas
C3
1:33.071
3.723
27-Feb
Bearman
Haas
C2
1:34.372
5.024
