Red Bull Mercedes Struggle in Bahrain Testing

The second test day at the Bahrain International Circuit is already well underway. Red Bull turned heads on Wednesday in Bahrain with the heavy mileage put in by Max Verstappen in the RB22, but a day later the brand‑new car is suffering problems. The Austrians weren’t the only team stood in the garage on Thursday morning; Cadillac and Mercedes also wrestled with a number of teething issues.

At exactly 07:00 UTC the drivers were once again allowed back onto the track in Bahrain. Isack Hadjar – who takes the RB22 from teammate Max Verstappen today – nevertheless had to wait a little longer for his debut in the Red Bull in Bahrain. Multiple sources reported the Austrian team was dealing with a hydraulic leak on the car. Red Bull itself told the assembled media in a brief statement that something had gone wrong with the car’s assembly: “We only have a routine issue with the assembly of yesterday’s car and expect a two‑hour delay.”

Red Bull were not the only team to run into trouble in the morning session. The Cadillac – with Sergio Pérez at the wheel this morning – also came to a halt in under fifteen minutes. The Mexican thus triggered the first stoppage of the second test day, reportedly due to a throttle‑pedal issue. The American squad quickly found a fix, and Pérez was able to resume running shortly after.

Also problems at Mercedes

The teething problems kept mounting across the Formula 1 teams, because halfway through the morning session the W17 from Mercedes also sat idle in the garage. The Silver Arrows had impressed with the reliability of their 2026 challenger earlier in Barcelona – the team logged more than 500 laps there – but on the second day in Bahrain Kimi Antonelli could manage only three laps in the first two hours.

Partly because of problems at Red Bull, Cadillac and Mercedes, Alpine was able to keep running strongly: after two hours Pierre Gasly had 38 laps on the board. The Frenchman was shadowed closely by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari with 34 laps, and Lando Norris in the McLaren with 32. The Monegasque also held the fastest time of the test week so far at that point: 1:34.422, roughly two-tenths quicker than Norris’s pace on Wednesday in Bahrain.  

That same Norris ultimately completed the most laps in the morning session — 64 — with Leclerc right behind him. The Monegasque lowered his best to 1:34.273, five-tenths faster than Norris. Then again, times at this stage of pre-season don’t tell the whole story. Antonelli never made it back out for Mercedes, while Hadjar managed only one lap in the RB22.

Result of the Thursday morning session