Norris tops opening day of Bahrain F1 test as Mercedes, Aston stumble

Lando Norris was fastest on the opening day of the first official pre-season test in Bahrain, while both Mercedes and Aston Martin completed limited mileage.

Following the private shakedown in Barcelona, the first of two three-day tests got underway in Bahrain on Wednesday and it was the defending champion who topped the times. Norris was driving in the afternoon session – ending under floodlights at 7:00pm local time – after taking over from teammate Oscar Piastri, and the McLaren ran consistently to post a 1m34.669s during 58 laps at the wheel.

Piastri’s morning time of 1m35.602s was enough for fifth at the end of the day, with his 54 laps giving McLaren 112 in total for the day. That was a respectable total, with the highest being registered by Williams on its return to action with 145.

From an individual point of view, Max Verstappen enjoyed the highest mileage with 136 laps as Red Bull once again showed impressive reliability with its brand-new Ford-backed power unit, and Verstappen added pace to that once again with a 1m34.798s leaving him second fastest. Just 0.129s slower than the McLaren – albeit on the softer C3 tire compound compared to Norris on C2 – Verstappen looked set to go top on a late run under the floodlights but dropped time through the lap after a rapid first sector.

Behind Red Bull’s four-time world champion was Charles Leclerc as Ferrari made a strong start to the test, although the Monaco native was seen fighting the car regularly through the middle sector. Leclerc, also on the C3, completed 80 laps and was 0.521s off Norris in the afternoon session, while Lewis Hamilton suffered a spin in the morning during his 52 laps.

Teams are limited to only the hardest three tire compounds – C1, C2 and C3 – for this week's test, as Pirelli deem those the most suitable to the Bahrain circuit, and the majority of each driver's quickest times were set on the C3 that was used for 53% of the laps on the opening day.

Other than Verstappen, Esteban Ocon was the only driver to exceed 100 laps on his own, posting 115 laps for Haas on an encouraging day for Ayao Komatsu’s team. The reliability and solid mileage was one positive, but another was the Haas finishing the opening day in the top four, with Ocon 0.909s adrift of the fastest time.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff singled out Red Bull as particularly quick when he spoke to the media on Wednesday – something backed up by the two cars it supplies power units to topping the speed traps – but Mercedes had been catching the eye during the Barcelona shakedown with both reliability and early pace. Neither were on significant display on the first day in Bahrain, though, despite George Russell completing 56 laps during a solid morning.

Russell had posted a 1m36.118s but there was a delay to the team’s afternoon running as it found an issue during planned setup changes after Kimi Antonelli’s first lap. Antonelli ended up with just 30 laps to his name, as he missed out on more than two hours of running.

While that represents a blip for Mercedes so far in this pre-season, Aston Martin’s lack of mileage is a continuation of Barcelona. Lance Stroll was one of four drivers – alongside Verstappen, Ocon and Arvid Lindblad – who was scheduled to drive for the full day but he managed just 36 laps in total, of which only three came in the afternoon as Honda detected a “data anomaly” with the power unit.

That was three more laps than Lindblad completed in the afternoon session, as Racing Bulls followed its busy morning – registering 75 laps – with a write-off in the second half of the day due to a fluid leak.

Alpine also suffered a reliability issue as Franco Colapinto completed just 28 laps in the morning session before stopping on track to bring out the first red flag of the day, but Pierre Gasly had a more productive afternoon as he added a further 49 laps and went eighth quickest.