Charles Leclerc believes that Mercedes is hiding its true “potential” » Which were the best performing teams in the Bahrain tests

It's almost two decades since Ferrari won a world title in Formula 1. For drivers, it last happened in 2007 through Kimi Raikkonen, for constructors in 2008.

The Monegasque driver prefers to remain “very cautious” about Ferrari's prospects, although the team has enjoyed “positive” reliability during testing. Leclerc suggests that while actual performance is still an unknown, Mercedes is “hiding a massive amount” of potential. On the contrary, the representatives of the “Silver Arrows” say that “Red Bull is the team to beat” at the beginning of 2026.

The Scuderia recorded the third highest number of laps over the three days of testing, with their total of 420 surpassed only by McLaren and Williams, both with 422 laps. Leclerc also set the fastest time in the morning session on the second day.

Team performances in Bahrain tests:

• McLaren / Total tours: 422Fastest lap: 1m 34.549s (Oscar Piastri)

• Mercedes / Total laps: 282, Fastest lap: 1m 33.669s (Kimi Antonelli)

• Red Bull / Total laps: 343, Fastest lap: 1m 34.798s (Max Verstappen)

• Ferrari / Total laps: 420, Fastest lap: 1m 34.209s (Lewis Hamilton)

• Williams / Total tours: 422Fastest lap: 1m 36.793s (Alex Albon)

• Racing Bulls / Total laps: 326, Fastest lap: 1m 36.808s (Liam Lawson)

• Aston Martin / Total laps: 206, Fastest lap: 1m 38.248s (Fernando Alonso)

• Haas / Total laps: 390, Fastest lap: 1m 35.394s (Ollie Bearman)

• hearing / Total laps: 353, Fastest lap: 1m 36.291s (Nico Hulkenberg)

• Alpine / Total laps: 318, Fastest lap: 1m 35.806s (Franco Colapinto)

• Cadillac / Total laps: 320, Fastest lap: 1m 36.824s (Valtteri Bottas)

Charles Leclerc: “For now, I will remain very cautious”

Asked on day three if he felt Ferrari were in a good position given the high number of laps completed, Leclerc smiled and replied: “Yes, but it's just a feeling!”

“For now, I will remain very cautious, because last year you only had two or three things you could play with on your car to hide your potential, now it's maybe 10 or 15.

With this new system, there are so many ways you can hide performance, much more than in previous years. So in terms of performance itself, it's very difficult to know. In terms of reliability, we look good, and this is true and positive.

But at the end of the day, performance is, like reliability, a very important aspect that we need to excel at, and at the moment we don't really know where we are,” said Charles Leclerc, according to F1.com.

Charles Leclerc, during this week's tests in Bahrain // photo: Imago

Asked if this suggests that some of the team's rivals, such as Red Bull and Mercedes, have yet to reveal their true potential, Leclerc hinted that such an assumption could be valid in certain situations.

“I think Red Bull showed a bit more than Mercedes and they were very impressive,” said the Monegasque. “I think Mercedes is hiding a massive amount of performance, and only time will tell how much they've hidden”he added.

• Ferrari and the rest of the competitors will have their next opportunity to put more kilometers on their 2026 single-seaters during the second pre-season test in Bahrain, which will take place between 18 and 20 February.

• The first race of 2026 will take place on March 8 at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.