Charles Leclerc sets commanding F1 testing pace as Red Bull lose major time

Charles Leclerc enjoyed a trouble-free morning to set the fastest time in the morning session on Day 1 of F1's second Bahrain test, as three teams hit major worries.

The Monegasque posted a fastest lap of 1:33.739 to end up 0.313s clear of reigning world champion Lando Norris for McLaren, with 0.300s of this advantage coming in the second sector of the Sakhir lap alone. 

Leclerc posted 70 laps in the SF-26 before ending his day and is due to hand over to Lewis Hamilton for the afternoon, with Norris completing 54 laps for his 1:34.052, doing similarly for team-mate Oscar Piastri. 

Kimi Antonelli was the only other driver within a second of Leclerc's benchmark time, ending 0.419s down for Mercedes, with Alex Albon nearly two seconds slower for Williams in fourth.

Of the 11 teams on track, eight endured a regular morning of testing, as mechanical gremlins struck three. 

Isack Hadjar was limited to just 13 laps for Red Bull, with RacingNews365 understanding a loss of pressure in a coolant circuit in his Red Bull Powertrains engine, whilst Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin was also struck down with an as-yet-unknown engine problem.

It was reported on the world feed broadcast that Honda technicians had brought a borescope into the garage to inspect the engine. 

Hadjar placed sixth from his running, whilst Alonso's 28 laps brought a best of 1:36.536, 2.797s slower than Leclerc.

The other driver to suffer serious woes was Sergio Perez for Cadillac.

An initial suspension issue turned into a series of sensor problems, initially only limiting him to two laps in the first two hours. Fortunately, Perez was able to record 24 laps before handing over to Valtteri Bottas in the afternoon.

Of the 11 teams, 10 are set to change their drivers going into the afternoon, with only Max Verstappen not driving as Hadjar gets the full day in the RB22 machine.