Charles Leclerc Posts Fastest Time on Opening Day of Bahrain F1 Testing

Charles Leclerc delivered an encouraging start to Ferrari's 2026 campaign on Monday, posting the fastest lap time of 1:28.456 during the opening day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.

The Monégasque driver completed 89 laps in the updated SF-26, showing both impressive pace and reliability as Ferrari continues their development push following last season's championship near-miss. Leclerc's benchmark time was set during the afternoon session and came two-tenths faster than Red Bull's Sergio Perez in second place.

"The car feels very different from last year, in a good way," Leclerc said after stepping out of the Ferrari cockpit. "The engineers have worked incredibly hard over the winter, and you can feel the improvements in downforce and balance. Of course, it's only testing, but the sensations are very positive."

Mercedes showed promising signs of improvement with George Russell third fastest, just 0.312 seconds behind Leclerc's pace. The Silver Arrows completed the most laps of any team with 127, suggesting their reliability issues from previous seasons may be behind them as they seek to return to championship contention.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri rounded out the top four, while defending champion Max Verstappen was notably absent from the timing sheets as Red Bull focused on systems checks and aerodynamic data gathering rather than outright pace. The Dutch driver is expected to run extensively on Tuesday's second day of testing.

The promising Ferrari performance comes as welcome news for the Scuderia faithful, who have waited decades for a championship-winning campaign. With both Leclerc and new teammate Lewis Hamilton showing confidence in the SF-26 package, Ferrari appears ready to challenge Red Bull's recent dominance when the season begins in Bahrain next month. Today's testing results provide genuine optimism that 2026 could finally be Ferrari's year to return to the summit of Formula 1.