Overview
- Mercedes completed roughly 500 laps across its three permitted days, logging the week’s benchmark for reliability before packing up early.
- Ferrari covered about 440 laps and left on a high after Lewis Hamilton’s unofficial 1:16.348 on soft tyres topped the final day, though times were not official.
- Red Bull’s first in‑house power unit, developed with Ford, ran extensive mileage across Red Bull and Racing Bulls with no major faults reported after repairing Isack Hadjar’s crash damage.
- Aston Martin’s Adrian Newey‑influenced AMR26 drew attention for its radical design but managed limited running of around 65 laps, and Williams skipped the shakedown entirely.
- Analysts urged caution on pecking‑order calls, with two Bahrain tests on February 11–13 and 18–20 expected to be more revealing in warmer conditions and with more representative programmes.