BAHRAIN TEST ONE – Lando Norris fastest by over a tenth on the opening day of testing
Lando Norris ended the first day of the first official test at the Bahrain International Circuit fastest, the world champion set a 34.669 to put his McLaren just over a tenth and a quarter faster than Max Verstappen.
Verstappen had topped the morning session, but Norris went eight tenths faster during the afternoon session when track temperatures cooled down under the lights. However, Norris’ time came on the softer hard C2 tyre and Verstappen on the harder medium C3 tyre.
Verstappen was just under two tenths ahead of Charles Leclerc with McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari looking at this early stage of testing to have an advantage. However, a lot can and will change between now and the end of the five remaining days of running before Melbourne in three weeks.
But it’s only the first official day off running, with two three-day tests over the next ten days in Sakhir, which are designed to allow teams to adapt to the introduction of new power unit and chassis regulations for the 2026 season.
Red Bull, who are manufacturing their own engine for the first time since entering the sport in 2005, had already gone some way to dispelling doubts over the power unit with a strong showing at last month’s Barcelona shakedown, but they made another statement on Wednesday in Bahrain.
Leclerc was just under four tenths ahead of the Haas of Esteban Ocon, while Oscar Piastri, who drove the lunchtime session, was about a quarter of a second further behind. Though Piastri was nearly a second off teammate Norris, that’s likely down to the time of day they were running, as ever, during testing run plans, fuel loads, etc., are unknown to us.
For the first time this year, we and the media have been able to see the cars out on track, though restricted to the final hour, first impressions are that these cars have met what the new regulations were designed to do, with them appearing nimble on track. The headline, once again, like in Barcelona, was the reliability of the new cars.
Most of the headline lap time came during the final hour, which corresponds with the qualifying hour in Bahrain, under the cooler nighttime conditions. These were also when the drivers experienced gusty conditions, resulting in some going wide.
George Russell put his Mercedes sixth, the early title favourite was around a second and a half off Norris as he went three tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton as he completed a race distance during his afternoon stint. Pierre Gasly was the first driver to lap two seconds off the pace, going a tenth faster than the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg.
F1 politics have already begun, a row has emerged between Mercedes, McLaren and Williams, two customers, and the rest of the manufacturers over the legality of the power unit as its rivals believe it’s running a higher ratio than permitted when running. Williams team principal James Vowles, CEO and team principal Toto Wolff stresses that all Mercedes engines are fully legal, although he no longer categorically rules out the possibility of intervention.
Hulkenberg caused the only real incident of the day when he stopped on track, but that appeared to be a minor incident, and he was soon back out on track. The German is going six and a half tenths faster than Alex Albon, as Williams completed their first proper running of the year.
Kimi Antonelli put his Mercedes eleventh, but the Italian lost half of his running time in the afternoon in the garage before missing out on the top ten by nearly two tenths. Antonelli was over a second faster than Arvid Lindblad, as his teammate Liam Lawson celebrated his birthday from the pit wall.
Carlos Sainz put his Williams thirteenth as he went six tenths faster than Sergio Perez, as Cadillac split the running between the Mexican and teammate Valtteri Bottas. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto split the Cadillacs as he was a quarter of a second ahead of Bottas.
The Swiss-German team brought what could be their first big upgrade of the year, an entirely different sidepod treatment than that used on the show car at launch, or the one that ran in the Barcelona ‘shakedown week’. Cadillac showed off its livery for the first time, having revealed it during the Super Bowl half-time show over the weekend.
Aston Martin was the only team to run one driver all day, Lance Stroll, seventeenth, nearly half a second faster than Franco Colapinto. But it was a disappointing day for the team, who completed half a race distance before a “data anomaly” with the Honda power unit stopped their running.
The drivers not in action were Isack Hadjar, Fernando Alonso, Lawson and Ollie Bearman.