Lando Norris set the quickest time in the opening day of testing for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
The first day of running, split into two four-hour sessions, was interrupted by over an hour due to a sudden loss of power at the track. The Bahrain International Circuit operators issued a statement saying the outage was caused by a failure in an external substation.
Norris, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell were among those whose running was interrupted by the problem. However they regained most of their lost time as the teams agreed with the FIA and Formula One Management to extend the session by an hour.
Aside from the power cut, the session ran without any significant problems. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was quickest before the lunch break, setting a 1’31.428 in his Mercedes.
When the second session began, teams were slow at first to send their cars out, and the track remained silent for around 20 minutes. McLaren were particularly slow to join in, Norris remaining in the garage for well over one-and-a-half hours after the session restarted.
The quickest times were set by the drivers who ran in the second half of the day. Russell ended the test a tenth of a second shy of Norris, with Verstappen another tenth behind. Leclerc took fourth ahead of his former team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr, now driving for Williams.
2025 Bahrain pre-season testing day one lap times
| Pos. | Car number | Driver | Team | Model | Best time | Gap | Laps | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | MCL39 | 1’30.430 | 52 | C3 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W16 | 1’30.587 | 0.157 | 70 | C3 |
| 3 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | RB21 | 1’30.674 | 0.244 | 74 | C3 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’30.878 | 0.448 | 71 | C3 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams | FW47 | 1’30.955 | 0.525 | 68 | C3 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | A525 | 1’31.353 | 0.923 | 72 | C3 |
| 7 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W16 | 1’31.428 | 0.998 | 78 | C3 |
| 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | RB21 | 1’31.560 | 1.130 | 58 | C3 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | FW47 | 1’31.573 | 1.143 | 63 | C3 |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | 02 | 1’31.610 | 1.180 | 78 | C3 |
| 11 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 02 | 1’31.631 | 1.201 | 76 | C3 |
| 12 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | C45 | 1’31.690 | 1.260 | 59 | C3 |
| 13 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-25 | 1’31.834 | 1.404 | 70 | C3 |
| 14 | 7 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | A525 | 1’31.841 | 1.411 | 68 | C3 |
| 15 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | AMR25 | 1’31.874 | 1.444 | 46 | C3 |
| 16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | AMR25 | 1’31.949 | 1.519 | 42 | C3 |
| 17 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | MCL39 | 1’32.084 | 1.654 | 66 | C3 |
| 18 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | C45 | 1’32.169 | 1.739 | 55 | C3 |
| 19 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | VF-25 | 1’33.600 | 3.170 | 88 | C3 |
| 20 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | VF-25 | 1’35.522 | 5.092 | 72 | C2 |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Formula 1
- Full text of FIA’s new mandatory two-pit-stop rule for Monaco GP published
- Horner puzzled by “oddball” timing of FIA’s new front wing tests
- Now we’ve seen all 10 F1 cars for real, who has the best livery for 2025?
- Pictures: 2025 F1 pre-season testing day one: Bahrain
- McLaren have been ‘bold’ with ‘innovative’ new car for 2025 – Brown
