Lewis Hamilton had some issues with his Ferrari right at the end of that session but the seven-time world champion still managed to get 150 laps in for his stint in the car, plus the third-fastest time of the day.

Oscar Piastri was king of the laps, though, with massive 161 to his name, plus the fourth on the timesheets.

Franco Colapinto, who had a bit of an off when the drivers were doing some practice starts a few moments ago, managed 144 laps for Alpine, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson also has his century badge with 199 laps of the Sakhir circuit after eight hours in the car.

Barney from the South of England: Corner approach will create opportunities for attacking and defending drivers to take different 'coasting' options. Corner entry will be the battleground.

Jonny from Kent: Don't understand the negative response to these new cars before they've even raced properly? I agree that the era of howling V10 engines was exciting, but it was also highly dangerous, and safety shouldn't be the only area of evolution. This new tech will filter down to road cars, eventually.

Lewis Hamilton is walking back to the Ferrari garage, race helmet still on. Hopefully the 41-year-old will give us an insight into how he found his full day's shift in the car on Friday.

The clock has run out, so week one of testing is now done and dusted.

Just over two minutes to go and after going through the procedures for a red-flag stoppage, cars take to the track once again. Nico Hulkenberg is happy to jump out of the Audi, though. His day's work is done.

Ben from Yate: It's been five minutes and we have only had testing. No racing has happened yet... This is ridiculous. I bet if we have someone from the midfield last year on the podium, these few will quieten down... I'm going to wait till Silverstone for a proper verdict.

Scott from South Yorkshire: F1 should be about going as hard as you can and driving on the limit, like Senna and Schumacher did. Focusing on the next apex or exit and not thinking about saving and recharging power. I could drive these cars and be competitive. This is killing F1.

Kalpesh from London: Whilst I think we will get more overtaking, it won't be on the same level. Cars will overtake because someone has more battery, or the opponent is on a different management strategy. Overtaking will be like when a car is on fresh tires vs old tires - bit boring.

Lewis Hamilton's car has been picked up by the recovery truck, so it's time for the other drivers to head back out for the final five minutes. Race control are doing a few tests again, so now we've got a safety car message on screen, followed by a red flag alert.

Red flag - Hamilton stopspublished at 15:53 GMT

15:53 GMT

The marshals are on the scene quickly to come to Lewis Hamilton's rescue. The lights are flashing on the Ferrari, which has performed well in Bahrain so far. There are only a few minutes left of this session and the track is silent.

Red flag - Hamilton parks uppublished at 15:50 GMT

15:50 GMT

Lewis Hamilton is the latest car to come to a stop at the side of the track. The seven-time world champion has clocked 150 laps today but on his 151st, his race run ends abruptly and now he needs to park up at a safe spot, which he has done.

Isack Hadjar pulls up to the wrong pit box in his Red Bull - next one along, mate. Over at Audi, another new name on the grid for 2026, German Nico Hulkenberg lifts his car up the timesheets to 10th with a 1:36.291 on the C3 compound tyre.

Jeff from Stone: Formula E has always had lots of overtaking and excitement. Up the performance to F1 levels and we could be in for a cracking season.

Tim from Manchester: A conversation is long overdue over whether F1 wants to be entertainment or a motor industry/technology showcase. It's clear they are now mutually exclusive which wasn't the case in the past.

Bob from Worcestershire: We rarely see drivers on the ragged edge these days, they're either lifting and coasting or looking after their tyres. Now they will be harvesting energy as well, just let them race.

Oscar Piastri has made his way back to the McLaren garage with a whopping 156 laps on the board for his Friday shift. Excellent work by the Australian and his team.

Image source, Getty Images

Before the 2026 season gets properly under way, have a listen to the latest series of our F1: Back at Base podcast.

For the past year, it has been following the fortunes of the new Cadillac team, as well as two of last year's rookies - Oliver Bearman at Haas and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

Have a listen to the latest episode below, where Sarah Holt and Holly Samos discuss the rule changes for the season and they hear from Bearman and Antonelli.

Plus, they chat to F1 race winner Valtteri Bottas as he starts his next chapter in the sport with Cadillac.

Take a listen on BBC Sounds here.

The circuit is busy with 35 minutes of this final running to go. One driver who is not out there, though, is Isack Hadjar. The Red Bull mechanics are working hard on the Frenchman's car, so for now, Hadjar stays on 53 laps for his afternoon stint.

Lance Stroll has joined the action but only the Canadian has only 68 laps for his day's run out in the Aston Martin. By contrast, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri, who are also doing the full eight hours, are on 138 and 153 laps respectively.

Image source, Formula 1

Petre from Chester: It's gone too far. Drivers already having to manage brake temps, tyre wear, fuel loads and now energy. 22 drivers managing their cars home doesn't sound like my idea of good racing.

Tom from Rotherham: If Max did leave F1, I think that'd be great for motorsport as a whole as he'd bring a lot of new eyes to whatever series he joined. He already does!

Qston from Wirral: We all want to see flat out racing and battles on the track, but in race management has always been part of F1 with management of tyres, fuel and brakes. This is just an added dimension.

Image source, Getty Images

So where does Fernando Alonso think the issues are for Aston Martin right now?

"On the chassis side there is no question mark on that," he said. "After 30-plus years of Adrian [Newey] dominating the sport, it's not that he will forget everything in one year and I don't know where we are now in terms of chassis and grip level.

"But even if we are not at 100 now, we will be at 100 soon because we will fix any problem.

On the team's new Honda power unit, he added: "I think we need to give time and understand where we are and if we are behind, get better as soon as possible."

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Martin are trying to get Lance Stroll out for the last 40 minutes of this session. While the Canadian waits patiently for the go-ahead, his team-mate Fernando Alonso has been chatting to the media in the paddock. Stroll said the team is more than four seconds away from their rivals, but what does the Spaniard think?

"Definitely we are not in the position we wanted to be," said Alonso.

"We started on the back foot, missing Barcelona was a big thing, because it was not only missing the Barcelona test, it was also missing the filming days before.

"Some people ran the car on the 9 January, so now they have been one month analysing data and solving problems, this sensor here, that temperature there, whatever."

Colin from Macclesfield: We all knew there would be huge changes this year. What I'm disappointed by is how negative the drivers are about it all. If they're not enjoying it, then how as fans are we expected to enjoy watching them?

Anees from Sheffield: If Max is truly one of the greats, maybe this season, with the new rules, we will find out how good he really is and whether he can adapt his driving style.

Thom from London: Couldn't disagree with Stuart from Shropshire more. Nothing wrong with F1's environmental drive. It shows leadership and a positive stance on this critical issue - and there's so little of that going on. F1 can - and will - prove that "green" cars can be fast, powerful and respectable.

Kimi Antonelli is collecting as many laps as he can after missing a chunk of this afternoon running on Friday. The Italian is now 0.249 seconds quicker than his team-mate George Russell having found more pace in his Mercedes on the softer tyre.

The Italian switches to the harder rubber to complete his final laps along with Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez.

Image source, Getty Images

JD from Bexley: Sorry, but Max is whinging because he's used to having a dominant car and having everything to his advantage. Now that F1 has hit the collective reset button across the board, every team and driver is starting on a level playing field, and he clearly finds this annoying.

Jon from Dorset: These cars apparently need far more input from the driver than in recent years, and so older stalwarts like Hamilton and Alonso will, in theory, adapt to them better. They're experienced in car management in a way many younger drivers are not, so they may really thrive in this new era?

David from London: For me, it's about creating greater competition between drivers rather than who is in the best car. F1 may have achieved this but at the cost of losing the foundations of what F1 has always been about.