(Motorsport-Total.com) – Charles Leclerc was the fastest man at the winter test in Bahrain ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season. However, long-time Haas team principal Günther Steiner emphasizes that Ferrari is therefore not automatically the top favorite for the world championship title this year.
Read more Future of Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari driver makes clear statement
“Ferrari is just Ferrari, I would say. You never know exactly where they stand,” Steiner told sport.de. He emphasizes: “They are up there, but are they right at the front? That’s always the problem with Ferrari. You can see that the car is good.”
“They are among the top 4,” says Steiner, who however does not see the Scuderia at the very front of this group. “The winner is Mercedes. They are very strong,” believes the 60-year-old, although Mercedes only took second place behind Ferrari in the timesheets in Bahrain.
However, Andrea Kimi Antonelli set his personal best time as early as the penultimate day of testing and on a harder tire compound than Leclerc. Thus, the Italian was 0,811 seconds slower in the end, while teammate George Russell refrained from a real time attack on the final day.
Russell thus only finished sixth in the timesheets, but Steiner emphasizes: “For me, Mercedes and George Russell as a driver are the favorites in Australia.” Russell also has “the talent to become world champion if he has the machine.”
Read more F1 comeback: Damon Hill takes on important role at Williams
“And with the Mercedes, he has the machine at the moment. And that’s why for me, George is the title contender this year,” says Steiner, who generally assumes that the title will again be decided between the four top teams Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren.
Behind them in the midfield, Audi, among others, convinced him. “I was actually positively surprised by Audi,” he says and explains: “They are driving consistently, and the times are also respectable. […] They can’t compete for wins, […] but if they are in the midfield, that’s already very positive.”
The biggest disappointment of the test drives for him, on the other hand, is unsurprisingly Aston Martin. The team is “not stable” and “slow,” says Steiner. The team around Fernando Alonso and Adrian Newey finished last in both the timesheets and the lap charts.
Read more Lewis Hamilton reacts to retirement rumors: «I’m not going anywhere»