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Charles Leclerc recorded the fastest time on the final day of the 2026 Bahrain test, but Jolyon Palmer felt the Ferrari racer looked “on the edge” even on his “smoothest” lap.
Pre-season testing in the Sakhir desert came to a conclusion on Friday, with Leclerc sat atop the final timesheets with a 1:31.992. The 28-year-old also finished the last day with a 0.879-second margin over McLaren’s Lando Norris, but fuel loads and engine modes are unknown.
Yet while Leclerc set the pace on Friday, the general consensus in the F1 paddock in Bahrain only has Ferrari as the third-best team going into the 2026 season. Some F1 engineers have developed concerns about Ferrari’s small turbo creating a power deficit at some tracks, too.
There have been consistent concerns among the F1 paddock about the handling of Ferrari’s 2026 car since the Barcelona shakedown, as well. And while Palmer noticed a lot of positive moments during Leclerc’s fastest lap at the close of the Bahrain test, it was far from perfect.
Charles Leclerc finished the final day of 2026 F1 pre-season testing on top in Bahrain! But is he your favourite for the first race?
Even Charles Leclerc’s ‘smoothest’ lap at F1 testing in Bahrain looked ‘on the edge’
Palmer believed Leclerc had “great traction” through Turns 2 and 3, where other drivers had been “struggling”, and also looked to have “so much more” stability through Turn 10. He got a strong exit out of T10, as well, having been able to get on the throttle early and smoothly.
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But as Leclerc neared the final sector, Palmer felt he was “on the absolute limit” exiting T11 as the Monegasque had a few bites at the cherry to control his car from sliding. Leclerc had to have a few bites on the exit of the final corner, as well, after he ran across the exit kerb.
Palmer said on the F1 world feed (20/02, 15:52): “On the absolute limit through the exit of [Turn] 11, but crucially not on the entry. Holding it. Harvesting again a little through [Turn] 12, quite easy, but it gives you some more power down this straight.
“Tidier in the realm of Charles Leclerc laps. Again, you can just hear the revs dipping before the final corner, and then woah he almost went wide there. That curve is a risky one to take as it drops away. But Charles over the line, and overall a good lap.
“[He] still looks on the edge, but I can assure you that [it] was probably the smoothest one that he put in.”
Charles Leclerc’s eight-tenths advantage in testing is very unlikely to be the final margin
The F1 paddock thinks Mercedes are the team to beat in 2026 after testing. Do you agree?
Leclerc has often looked a lot more at ease with Ferrari’s car built to the 2026 F1 regulations than teammate Lewis Hamilton has so far seemed behind the wheel. In particular, Hamilton has had far more issues with the front end of Ferrari’s 2026 car than Leclerc over every test.
Yet Leclerc would also appear to have improvements to find when the 2026 F1 season starts in Australia on March 6-8 to extract the maximum potential from the SF-26. The eight-tenths gap that he held over 2025 champion Norris on Friday is very unlikely to be the final margin.
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