Bahrain Test, Day 1: Lando Norris puts McLaren on top, Charles Leclerc 4th

Today at 12:51 PM

McLaren picks up where it left off in Abu Dhabi 2024—at the front. On the first day of 2025 Formula 1 pre-season testing, Lando Norris set the fastest time with a 1’30″430, which is nine-tenths quicker than the best lap Max Verstappen posted on the first day of last season's tests (1’31″344).

This generation of cars is in its final year, and everything has been pushed to the limit. The only red flag of the day—lasting about an hour—was caused by a power outage across the entire southern region of Bahrain, plunging Sakhir into darkness. No lights, no communications, no telemetry, and no way to interact with Race Control.

As a result, once power was restored, the session was extended by an hour to make up for lost time, ensuring the full eight hours of testing could be completed under Bahrain’s circuit lighting.

After the session resumed in the afternoon following the red flag, several drivers fitted C3 compounds and attempted fast laps. Norris emerged as the quickest, finishing 157 thousandths ahead of George Russell's Mercedes W16 in second and 244 thousandths ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull RB21 in third.

Today's times should be taken with a grain of salt. However, what stood out was the precision of the MCL39 across all three sectors, as well as Red Bull's impressive consistency. Mercedes, especially with Russell, showed some promising moments but also had weaker stints. The three teams mainly focused on mid-to-late race simulation stints, while Ferrari followed a different program.

Charles Leclerc, fourth and 448 thousandths off Norris, did not attempt a time attack when the track was in optimal conditions and instead focused on high-fuel race pace assessments. The SF-25's lap times, often in the mid-1’36” range, indicate that Maranello was working on areas where they struggled last season, particularly in the first stint of races when the fuel tank was still full.

At Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time in the morning session and finished seventh overall. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, placed only 13th. The impression is that, like Leclerc, the Briton wasn't focusing on outright performance but rather on understanding the car ahead of the season opener in Melbourne.

Behind the top four teams, Williams impressed with Carlos Sainz, who was strong on a single lap and finished fifth, less than a tenth behind the Ferrari of his former teammate Leclerc. The Spaniard improved lap after lap in the final two hours of the session. Alpine also performed well, with Pierre Gasly finishing sixth and delivering a solid afternoon. However, the race pace of Williams and Alpine wasn't strong enough to challenge the front-runners.

After Antonelli in seventh came Liam Lawson, eighth after a solid morning session. Williams had a positive day, with Alexander Albon in ninth, ahead of both Racing Bulls of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar. The Faenza team's rookie impressed, improving steadily and finishing just 21 thousandths behind his teammate.

The highest-placed Sauber was Gabriel Bortoleto in 12th, though Nico Hülkenberg's morning session was more noteworthy, considering how far back the Hinwil team was in the 2024 season. Hamilton placed 13th, just ahead of Jack Doohan in the Alpine.

Aston Martin had a quiet and unremarkable day, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finishing 15th and 16th, separated by less than a tenth.

Oscar Piastri ended the day in 17th, but his morning was spent on different evaluations compared to Norris's afternoon work. The standings were rounded out by the Haas duo of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman. It wasn't an ideal start for the American team, but there is still plenty of time to show more, starting tomorrow.

The post Bahrain Test, Day 1: Lando Norris puts McLaren on top, Charles Leclerc 4th appeared first on Scuderia Fans.