McLaren fastest in opening day of F1 testing

Reigning constructors champions McLaren has started F1 2025 on top with Lando Norris fastest on the opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Norris’ 1:38.430 topped the times after eight hours of on-track running for teams to get accustomed to their 2025 machinery at Sakhir.

The #4 was 0.0157s faster than George Russell in the Mercedes, while Max Verstappen was also just two tenths away in third.

Charles Leclerc edged out his former Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who showed decent pace in the Williams ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

All of these times were set in the faster and cooler night session with morning session leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli in seventh.

Kiwi Liam Lawson secured eighth in his first drive of the 2025 Red Bull as Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10 having been the front runners earlier in the day.

Australian rookie Jack Doohan was 14th and McLaren star Oscar Piastri was 17th, but they focused on logging laps in the slower morning session being sixth and eighth respectively across the first four hours.

Jack Doohan driving the 2025 Alpine at Bahrain. Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images/F1

That was also when all eyes were on Lewis Hamilton as he drove the #44 Ferrari for the first time in an official session and he ended up 13th overall and fifth in the morning.

Only one driver got more than 80 laps on the board, which was Esteban Ocon in the Haas with 88 as the American team recorded the slowest two times of the day, being more than 3s off the pace.

It was a largely uneventful day with the only red flag being waved for a bizarre power cut.

Suddenly all the lights that brought the Sakhir circuit to life were out and teams had to find different and old fashioned ways to aluminate their garages.

After around an hour of waiting in the dark, the session resumed and was lengehtend to ensure teams got the allotted amount of track time.

The only notable on-track moments were Red Bull backed youngsters Isack Hadjar and Lawson spinning at Turns 4 and 2 respectively.

“It’s nice to be back in the car!” Norris said following his afternoon session aboard the MCL39. 

“A big shout-out to the team for getting everything ready and prepared for today.

“It was a good, fun day on track, and we progressed through a lot of the tests that we wanted to do. 

Australia’s Oscar Piastri in the MCL39 Mercedes in the morning. Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images/F1

“I’m looking forward to pushing the car a bit more over the next couple of days.”

Piastri described the opening day as a “productive one.”

“So, the first day in the MCL39 is done. Thank you to everyone in the team for getting us ready for today,” he said.

“It was a productive morning for me, as we tried quite a few different things and it was really nice to be back on track.

“We still have many more areas to cover in the coming days to keep putting the car through its paces and to see how it works, but overall, a solid day.”

Hamilton described his first offical F1 test in the Ferrari SF-75 as an “incredible feeling.”

“Being here with Scuderia Ferrari HP and in the SF-25 for the first time is an incredible feeling,” he said. 

“Our focus right now is on experimenting with different things, gathering as much data as possible and getting familiar with the car, and we’ve already learned a lot.

“It’s too early to really understand performance, but everything feels good and as a team we’re working on the best way to optimise each run. 

“There’s more to do over the next few days to get through our programme and understand the car to the best of our ability, but right now I’m looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow.”

Lewis Hamilton turned heads in the Ferrari SF-25 in the morning. Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images/F1

Doohan completed 68 laps and enjoyed his time behind the wheel.

“After Monday’s shakedown, it’s really good to be on track again and having a full morning’s running in the A525,” he said.

“I enjoyed being in the car and really having a good feel for everything across various set-ups and compounds. 

“A massive thank you to the whole team at Enstone and Viry for their work over the winter and having the car ready and prepared for this test.

“I’ll be supporting the team and watching closely in the morning before I am back in the car tomorrow afternoon looking to continue working through the programme.”

Testing continues with day two tonight and will be broadcast on Fox Sports/Kayo from 17.55 AEDT.

2025 Formula 1 pre-season test driver schedules

Day 2 morning: Lawson, Russell, Gasly, Ocon, Tsunoda, Alonso, Piastri, Sainz, Hülkenberg

Day 2 afternoon: Lawson, Antonelli, Doohan, Bearman, Hadjar, Stroll, Norris, Sainz, Bortoleto

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.