Ferrari probes SF-26 after active rear wing flipped

Ferrari’s novel active rear wing — a rotating flap on the SF-26 designed to cut drag — dominated the opening days of the Bahrain pre-season test. Team observers saw the flap rotate fully upside‑down in straight mode during Lewis Hamilton’s brief outing, prompting Ferrari to investigate and adopt a cautious program: one SF‑26 was reported confined to the garage and another was limited to just five laps in a session. Hamilton ran the SF‑26 only briefly, spent much of the morning in the garage, completed five laps in one outing and later returned for a standing‑start exercise.

On-track timings were tight. Lando Norris set the fastest lap of the test with a 1:33.453 on the C4 tire, edging George Russell’s 1:33.459 by 0.006s; Russell had earlier topped a session with the 1:33.459 on C3 rubber. Oscar Piastri was within 0.01s of Russell, Charles Leclerc posted a 1:33.739 on prototype Pirelli rubber, and Max Verstappen posted a 1:33.584 after more than 50 laps. Mileage leaders included Russell, who was reported to have completed roughly 76-77 laps, while several rookies and backmarkers logged more limited programs (for example, Isack Hadjar completed 66 laps overall).

Reliability and restricted mileage affected several teams. Aston Martin suffered a power-unit issue that limited Fernando Alonso to about 28 laps and left the team with one of the lower daily totals (around 54 laps reported), while Lance Stroll’s spin brought out a red flag. Cadillac-run entries struggled for consistent track time. Reports about individual drivers’ lap counts varied: some logs showed Sergio Pérez at about 24 laps on one day, while Valtteri Bottas was variously reported as having only two installation laps in one session and higher totals in others. Red Bull also detected a pressure problem at times that curtailed running. Programs were further constrained late in the day by FIA-mandated practice-start checks, leaving teams to balance useful mileage with ongoing technical investigations ahead of the season opener.