Lando Norris set the fastest time on the first day of F1's first pre-season test in Bahrain, as Max Verstappen made a major statement of Red Bull's intent.
After taking over from team-mate Oscar Piastri for the afternoon running in Sakhir, Norris was initially slow to set competitive lap times before ramping up his pace as night fell.
With 1hr:18 minutes remaining in the session, the reigning world champion posted a 1:34.669 effort to pass Verstappen, who had been dominating the day up until that point.
Verstappen was fastest at the lunch break, and following the break, roared to a 1:34.820, going 0.7s faster than Piastri, who was second.
In the final five minutes, Verstappen had an attack on Norris's time, but his 130th lap of the day could only manage a 1:34.798, ending 0.129s slower than the McLaren, who did 58 laps.
However, the reliability, pace, and energy deployment of the new Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine behind Verstappen caught the eye of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who admitted his team were not able to replicate what RBPT was doing on the day.
Verstappen was one of only two drivers to achieve over 100 laps, posting 136 laps, 21 more than Esteban Ocon in fourth on a good day for Haas following a hurry-up from boss Ayao Komatsu before the test.
Charles Leclerc replaced Lewis Hamilton at lunch, and climbed to third place by the end, clocking up 79 laps as Piastri slipped to fifth by the end of the day, ahead of both George Russell and Hamilton, who had a spin at Turn 1 during a morning where gusts of wind were described as the strongest he had ever felt in Bahrain.
The day's running was largely trouble-free, but there were brief red flags for Franco Colapinto of Alpine in the morning and Nico Hulkenberg of Audi in the afternoon.
Hulkenberg recovered following his stoppage on the approach to the final corner to go ninth, being past by Pierre Gasly in the final 10 minutes, with Alex Albon of Williams rounding out the top 10.
Mercedes lost a chunk of running with Kimi Antonelli after detecting a chassis issue shortly after lunch, costing three hours of running, before he returned in the final hour.
The Italian clocked up 24 laps to go 11th, ahead of Arvid Lindblad, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, Gabriel Bortoleto, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, and Colapinto.
Isack Hadjar, Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson, and Oliver Bearman did not run as their respective team-mates took the full day, in which the field in total completed 1,143 laps.
Check out the lap counts by each driver below!
Laps by driver on Bahrain Day 1
| Driver | Laps |
|---|---|
| Lando Norris | 58 |
| Max Verstappen | 136 |
| Charles Leclerc | 79 |
| Esteban Ocon | 115 |
| Oscar Piastri | 54 |
| George Russell | 56 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 52 |
| Pierre Gasly | 49 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 73 |
| Alex Albon | 68 |
| Kimi Antonelli | 30 |
| Arvid Lindblad | 75 |
| Carlos Sainz | 77 |
| Sergio Perez | 58 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | 49 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 49 |
| Lance Stroll | 36 |
| Franco Colapinto | 28 |
Also interesting:
Formula 1 engines follow the same rules — at least on paper.
In this video, we explore a fascinating Mercedes engine theory that is engulfing the F1 paddock, with Red Bull quietly part of the story. Not an illegal trick, but a clever interpretation of the regulations.
At the heart of the controversy is a rumoured approach to compression ratios, measured legally during FIA inspection, but potentially very different once the engine reaches operating temperature.
We break down how it works, why it matters, and why this advantage — if real — may be brilliant, legal… but only temporary.
Because in Formula 1, every grey area eventually disappears — one way or another.
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!