Three days of testing in Bahrain. Here’s what looked real and what was sandbagging.

Mileage leaders

TeamTotal lapsIssues
McLaren467None
Red Bull451Day 2 morning hydraulic
Williams442None
Mercedes428Day 3 ERS issue
Ferrari407Day 1 power unit reliability
Aston Martin372Multiple software issues

McLaren’s reliability on a brand-new car is notable. They’ve clearly done their homework on the dyno. Aston Martin had a visibly difficult test — the new chassis kept stopping for software resets.