5 Winners and 2 Losers from the first 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain – who was left itching to make up for lost ground?

After three days of pre-season testing in the Bahrain desert, there were those who were pleased with their efforts and others left itching to get to the second test to make up for lost ground. Lawrence Barretto picks out his winners and losers from test one…

Winners: Red Bull and their powertrain

You’d struggle to find someone in the Formula 1 paddock in Bahrain who was not impressed with the inaugural Red Bull Ford power unit.

After running reliably from the first laps in the Barcelona Shakedown, the power unit stretched its legs in Bahrain, with the engine displaying impressive energy deployment on the straights to give Red Bull a significant advantage there.

It’s still early doors, of course, and we don’t know what programmes other engine manufacturers were running.

But another three strong days of running for the new power unit, which ran for 670 laps in the Red Bull and Racing Bull, still turned a lot of heads.

Losers: Aston Martin

It was a massive effort from Aston Martin to get their car to Barcelona towards the end of Shakedown week – and they hoped to step up their preparations with a super smooth run in the Bahraini desert.

However, they struggled for reliability throughout the three days and that limited the team to just 206 laps, the least of any team and half that of Williams, who missed the Barcelona Shakedown altogether.

Double World Champion Fernando Alonso was one of only two drivers to fail to do more than 100 laps, while team mate Lance Stroll only crept over that milestone with 108.

They have already admitted they are on the backfoot and have a lot of work to do to be competitive for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix next month.

Winners: Williams

Williams’ 2026 campaign got off to a difficult start when production delays forced them to miss the Barcelona Shakedown.

They rebounded to get the car in shape to complete two filming days – in Silverstone and Bahrain respectively – and then piled on the mileage in the first test.

Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon covered 422 laps, a tally which was matched only by McLaren, to help the team play catch up.

It’s still unclear how quick the British team are, though, as this week wasn’t about chasing performance. That will come next week providing they keep running reliably.

Loser: Kimi Antonelli

This was a challenging week for Kimi Antonelli, who will be competing in his second Formula 1 campaign this year, as several reliability issues meant he managed just over 30 laps across the first two days of running.

Mercifully, the Italian had some better luck on the final day and was able to clock up 61 laps of consistent running and the fastest lap of the test, but he still ended the three days with the lowest lap count of all (94).

“While this week has been frustrating, it is much better to have these issues now and be able to work through them, rather than them happening during race weekends,” he said.

Winners: Cadillac

Cadillac’s encouraging pre-season ahead of their Formula 1 debut continued with aplomb in Bahrain as the American squad ran reliably and consistently throughout.

They managed more than 1,700km, which is around five race distances, as they focused on refining the balance and set up, learning more about energy management and beginning work on race procedures.

Both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas managed a race simulation each – and while there were a few niggles along the way, the team worked efficiently to fix them and minimise lost track time.

They still have so much to do to be ready for Australia and are likely to be at the back of the pack but their rapid and relentless progress bodes well for the future.

Winners: Mercedes

Mercedes arrived in Bahrain following a very smooth run in Barcelona – but they suffered a series of problems, first with the suspension and then with their power unit, which hampered their mileage on the first two days.

However, they bounced back well on the final day to clock 139 laps to recover some lost mileage. Trackside chief Andrew Shovlin admitted they struggled to keep the car in a “happy window” in the warmer conditions compared to a chilly Barcelona.

But they are still in good shape to be fighting towards the front end of the field and have a decent baseline to take into next week’s final test.

If you ask McLaren and Ferrari, they’ll tell you that Mercedes are definitely one of the frontrunners.

Winners: Ferrari

This was a smooth test for Ferrari, who brought a Spec-A car to Barcelona and Bahrain to focus on learning about the new-for-2026 cars ahead of bringing a big upgrade to the final test.

The Italian squad don’t want to talk about performance, with Fred Vasseur instead insisting the team are focusing on data collection.

“So far everything has gone well from an operational point of view, with good reliability and plenty of laps completed, which is important both for our preparation,” he said.

They completed 420 laps, which put them third in the mileage rankings, just a couple of laps short of table-toppers Williams and McLaren, so it was mission accomplished in terms of data collection. Now it’s about searching for performance next week.