Max P3 on Friday morning of first pre-season test

Published on 13 February 2026 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen was third quickest in the morning session of day three of 2026’s first Formula 1 test. It marks the end of Max’ test week as Oracle Red Bull Racing team mate Isack Hadjar will drive the RB22 in the afternoon. George Russell lapped the Bahrain International Circuit fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari.

With pre-season testing limited to three days at Barcelona’s shake down and a total of six days testing at Bahrain, the teams are keen to gain as much track time as possible, meaning it is busy when the pitlane opens at 10am local time.

Max is among the first to take to the track and he does so in an RB22 covered in aero racks. Soon after, the Dutchman returns to the pits to remove the racks and his focus moves onto long runs at the start of the second hour of the morning session.

In the meantime, Valtteri Bottas is the first driver to cause a red flag, having to park his Cadillac track side with an issue. As the session progresses into its third hour, it gets busy with only Cadillac and Alpine in the garage, whilst the rest of the teams continue to rake up laps.

In the final hour, Max continues to head out on track, bringing his total lap count up to 61 laps, with his fastest effort good enough for P3. It means the Dutchman has completed a little under 200 laps at the first pre-season test.