Formula 1: Liam Lawson continues to improve in pre-season testing, posts 12th-fastest time in Bahrain

Liam Lawson continues to improve in Formula One’s pre-season, and posted the 12th fastest time of the day as testing resumed in Bahrain.

With Formula One’s 11 teams taking to Sakhir International Circuit to get to grips with their new cars before the 2026 season begins in March, Racing Bulls split the first day of the second Bahrain test between their two drivers.

The Kiwi clocking the 12th best time came on a day where 21 of 22 drivers took part in testing, as only Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sat out – with drivers limited to three sessions across the three days.

Lawson took the wheel in the day’s second session, getting the preferable conditions after sundown under lights, after teammate Arvid Lindblad took the morning and early afternoon.

Those conditions told in Lawson’s favour, as the Kiwi got through 61 laps, all on medium tyres, for a best time of 1m 35.753s.

And while that time saw Lawson finish 2.294s back from Mercedes’ George Russell, who posted a best lap of 1m 33.459s, the Kiwi continued to show clear signs of improvement behind the wheel of Racing Bulls’ VCARB03.

Times from testing are usually to be taken with a grain of salt, as teams don’t tend to disclose aerodynamic setups or fuel loads, making it hard to judge where each car and driver stands compared to those around them.

In fact, that time saw Lawson shave 1.55s off his best time from the first round of testing in Bahrain last week, when he posted a lap of 1m 36.808s. That lap, which also took place under lights on day three, also saw Lawson clock the fastest top speed of the day.

Lawson’s best time on day one was 1.016s faster than rookie teammate Lindblad, who got through 75 laps.

As was seen on day one of the first round of Bahrain testing, though, Racing Bulls’ best time came under lights, only this time Lawson benefited over Lindblad.

Cars tend to be faster at night in Bahrain, as the lower temperatures allow the engine to cool easier, as well as being kinder to tyres with less heat on the track surface.

Lawson will return to the track overnight on Thursday (NZ time), where he’ll get the entirety of day two, before Lindblad takes over for day three.

At the front of the grid, Russell continued Mercedes’ strong performances in pre-season, but was just 0.010s faster than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in second. Russell’s time is the fastest seen across the four completed days in Bahrain, with two still to come.

The pair’s Mercedes and McLaren teammates Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris were fifth and fourth respectively, 0.699s and 0.280s behind Russell.

Both teams have Mercedes power units, expected to lead the field this year after exploiting a loophole in the regulations, and using thermodynamics to get around limits on the engine’s compression ratio.

Red Bull have also been reported to have found the same loophole through their new power unit, as Isack Hadjar finished with the sixth-best time, 0.801s behind Russell.

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.