Max on P3 after second test day in Bahrain: 'All in all good, I think'

Published on 19 February 2026 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen closed the second day of the second round of testing in Bahrain third-fastest. The Red Bull Racing-driver extracted a lot of mileage out of the RB22, putting in 139 laps before day’s end. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was the fastest man on track, followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

After the second test day, Max briefly reflected: “Long day, a lot of driving, a lot of testing, race run completed – all in all good, I think!” When asked what the team has learned, he answered: “A lot of things. We just went through our testing program, there were a lot of things we still wanted to try – set up-wise, the gears... We did all of of it.”

Just after lunchtime, Max heads out of the pitlane for his first run of the afternoon. Earlier in the day, the Dutchman had already managed to complete 56 laps – just a little shy of a full Grand Prix distance. Later on, Max dazzles with a purple first sector, but loses some critical time in the second sector. However, his third sector is fast enough to take him to the top of the timesheets with a 1:33.444, edging out Lando Norris' best morning lap by just nine-thousandths of a second. Max set the lap on the hard prototype C3 tyre, while Norris had recorded his lap in on the softer C4.

Just over an hour later, a red flag brings the session to a halt after a suspected power unit issue stops Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin at turn four. The interruption forces Lewis Hamilton to abort his race simulation for Ferrari.

A pensive half hour passes till Oscar Piastri sets a new fastest time. On the C3-tyre, the Australian sails under Max’s time, demoting the Dutchman to P2.

In the session’s second and third hour Max only focuses on long runs and attempts a number of practice starts at the end of the pit lane. He experiments with different methods to spool up the turbo, aiming to achieve the optimal start. With one hour and twenty minutes remaining, Max pushes his total lap count past 100, working through what appears to be a race simulation. Similarly, Oscar Piastri’s McLaren also seems be running a race simulation.

In the session’s last hour, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli sets the new fastest time. The young Italian is 58-thousandths faster than Piastri, sinking Max to third place. The Dutchman, however, is occupied with completing the third portion of his race simulation. The track is continually getting cooler and cooler, accounting for the increasing faster laps the drivers are able to put in.

After the Aston Martin ground to a halt, Fernando Alsonso's garage disappeared behind large screens shielding the mechanics from prying eyes, affording them the privacy to attempt to get the car action-ready again. The question remains if that is possible, as the session inches ever closer to ending.

With just twenty minutes left on the clock, Max finishes his racing simulation and returns to the pits with 137 laps to his name. He later returns to the track for a final run, his car coated in flow-vis paint, and to partake in the test start. Shortly after, the day’s running draws to a close.