After three test sessions split between Barcelona and Sakhir, it’s time to crunch the numbers. From the late-January shakedown in Spain to the mid-February running in Bahrain, the eleven teams entered in the championship racked up mileage with mixed fortunes, revealing clear differences in workload, preparation and reliability levels.
George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon stand out in particular: all three drivers surpassed the symbolic 3,000 km mark across four and a half days of testing, despite sharing their cars with their respective teammates. In practical terms, each of them covered the equivalent of at least two Grands Prix per day — a workload that immediately highlights the intensity of their testing programs.
An impressive statistic, especially when compared to those who were far less fortunate. That was the case for both Williams drivers, who were forced to miss the entire Barcelona session, as well as the two Aston Martin drivers. Lance Stroll, in particular, endured a fragmented and problem-filled program: after opening testing with a “day” of just five laps in Barcelona, he ended in Bahrain with another session of only six laps, failing to even reach 800 km in total.
Even at Cadillac, making its debut in Formula 1, consistency never truly materialized. Across the first two tests, the drivers ran intermittently, focusing primarily on understanding procedures and getting to grips with an F1 car rather than chasing setup refinements or outright performance. It therefore comes as no surprise that the team appeared among the slowest in the field, with early benchmarks placing it at the back of the grid.
Antonelli unlucky: problems cost him 850 km
One figure that deserves particular attention is the gap between teammates. This is where significant differences emerge, often to the detriment of the less experienced drivers — precisely those who would have benefited most from consistent track time. The most striking example is Andrea Kimi Antonelli who, due to a long list of technical issues in the final two Bahrain tests, accumulated nearly 850 km fewer than George Russell.
A substantial deficit, especially considering Mercedes structured its program around extended long runs. This approach emphasizes setup work that delivers more visible effects over race distances rather than in short stints. Antonelli was hampered mainly by suspension and engine problems, including an issue that forced him to miss the final two hours of his last test day, robbing him of further valuable track time.
Isack Hadjar also lost significant mileage compared to Max Verstappen, with hydraulic problems during the second test costing him as much as half a day of running. With over 600 km fewer than the Dutchman, the French driver’s start to the season may prove more challenging than expected, particularly given how crucial continuity would have been for his adaptation.
Mercedes, Haas and Ferrari average two Grands Prix per day
From a team perspective, three outfits exceeded 6,000 km in total mileage: Mercedes, Haas and Ferrari. For the two established front-runners, this is hardly surprising. From the outset, both made the strongest impression in terms of reliability and, despite the inevitable early-cycle issues, still managed to log very significant mileage.
For Haas, the figure confirms excellent preparation, although the American team has become accustomed to completing high mileage during winter testing. Audi also deserves recognition: after early difficulties in Barcelona, the German manufacturer found consistency and ran steadily through Bahrain, approaching the 5,000 km mark overall.
It is also worth noting that Williams, despite skipping Barcelona entirely, managed to exceed 4,000 km across the six days it actually contested. However, performance-wise, the team still appears to be lacking something. A very different situation can be observed at Aston Martin, where both speed and reliability have been in short supply. On the final day, fewer than ten laps were completed, and even the planned correlation program with factory data could not be finished due to a shortage of spare parts.
With four Mercedes-powered teams on the grid, it was predictable that the German manufacturer would lead the overall power unit mileage table. By surpassing 20,000 km, the turbo-hybrid V6 engines bearing the three-pointed star symbolically covered half the Earth’s circumference — which stands at approximately 40,000 km.
However, when that mileage is divided by the number of teams supplied, the average per team is remarkably similar between Mercedes-powered outfits and those running Ferrari engines, including the Scuderia itself. It is also clear — as has been emphasized since the beginning of testing — that Red Bull Ford has done an outstanding job in terms of reliability as a new manufacturer. The average mileage per team exceeds 5,000 km, a figure fully in line with Mercedes and Ferrari and a strong early indicator of solid engineering foundations for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
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