‘Everyone’ in the F1 paddock has picked Mercedes over Ferrari as the fastest team after Bahrain testing

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Mercedes did not top the time sheets at the Bahrain Formula 1 test, but they have been labelled as the team to beat.

The 2026 Formula 1 pre-season has come to an end after six days of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Although it was Ferrari and Charles Leclerc who topped the time sheets from the entire six days of testing on the final day in Bahrain, they have not been labelled as favourites.

Instead, it is believed that Mercedes will be the team to watch when Formula 1 arrives in Melbourne in March for the opening race of the season.

Haas quietly topped the lap charts with a huge 170 on Day 3 in Bahrain! But which team is looking the strongest?

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Are Mercedes ‘sandbagging’ ahead of the Australian Grand Prix?

During The Race F1 Podcast, Edd Straw revealed that the entire Formula 1 paddock believes that Mercedes are the team to beat at the opening round.

There has been speculation that Mercedes were sandbagging during the final week of the Bahrain test after they did not set their fastest time of the test on the final day on Friday.

Straw said, “Mercedes are looking very, very strong. Anyone you speak to in the rival teams, everybody is saying their analysis says Mercedes are the team to beat.”

Kanal agreed with the idea that Mercedes are the fastest constructor, “Absolutely, the weirdest thing though, is we haven’t actually seen them doing much race simming on second week. They kind of showed theirs in the first week, but have we seen enough of them in the second week? And is that sandbagging?”

Straw responded by saying, “I am always wary of sandbagging, and I think there is an element of that there. There have been some long runs, and points where their race pace does look very good, but it has been untidy in that regard.

“If you look at it, Mercedes had the second fastest time of the Bahrain test, eight tenths off the pace setter, which was Charles Leclerc for Ferrari. The Mercedes fastest time came on Thursday rather than Friday, so there is no question that they can go a lot quicker.

“Everyone is expecting that when they get to Australia, providing they have the energy management right for what is going to be a challenging circuit on that side, they are expecting them to be very, very, very quick.”

The F1 paddock thinks Mercedes are the team to beat in 2026 after testing. Do you agree?

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Max Verstappen believes Mercedes will have the dominant power unit

After the final day of the Bahrain test, Max Verstappen was asked for his predictions for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

The four-time Formula 1 champion stated he believes that ‘any good team with a Mercedes engine will do well.’ If the Dutch driver’s prediction does come true, then Mercedes, McLaren, Alpine, and Williams could all be competitive throughout the season.

Although Alpine and Williams are supplied with the Mercedes engine, they are not expected to be at the front of the grid but rather be at the front in the midfield.

However, Mercedes are already expected to be the best constructor, and McLaren reportedly did not use the newest Mercedes power unit in Bahrain, so they may jump up the order in Melbourne.