Photo: Race Pictures

F1 LIVE | Leclerc leads in Bahrain as Verstappen and Russell focus on race pace

12:13, 20 Feb

Updated: 14:22, 20 Feb

byHenry Eccles

This is the live blog for Day 3 of the final winter test in Bahrain on Friday, 20 February 2026. Read everything about what happened on and around the track, with GPblog reporter Nicole Mulder present on site in Bahrain.

On Day 2 in Bahrain, Mercedes and McLaren had a close battle for fastest lap, with the Silver Arrows' Kimi Antonelli pipping Oscar Piastri to P1 thanks to a 1:32.803 in the afternoon session - just five hundredths of a second ahead of the Aussie. The two teams also enjoyed the most mileage in Bahrain, with Mercedes achieving 158 laps, just two more than their engine customers McLaren.

Team principal Toto Wolff was far from happy, however, as he slammed the "b*llsh*t" speculation surrounding Mercedes in the build-up to F1 2026. Whether it was his 'philosophical disagreement' with the proposal to change how cars' compression ratio is measured in the middle of the year, or rumours around Mercedes' fuel suppliers Petronas, Wolff made his feelings very clear on "nonsense" stories on Thursday.

Ferrari shocked the F1 paddock with a bizarre 'upside-down' rear wing, but struggled to get the laps in on Day 2. Seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton achieved only 78 laps during the entire day, while things were even worse over at Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso was forced to stop after 68 laps when his AMR26 appeared to lose drive at Turn 4 at Sakhir - the team in green remained off-track for the rest of the day.