2025 F1 Pre-Season Testing: Day 1 Results

Formula 1’s ‘Big Four’ led the opening day of Bahrain Testing as Lewis Hamilton completed his full Ferrari debut ahead of the 2025 F1 season.

Lando Norris set the fastest time for McLaren on an eventful first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, which was disrupted by a lengthy delay due to a power outage at the circuit.

Norris considered a pre-season title contender, posted a best lap of 1:30.430 in the session following the restart, finishing ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the top of the timesheets. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton completed 70 laps in his first full test with Ferrari, marking the beginning of his highly anticipated new chapter with the Scuderia.

Formula One History Recommends

• 

  2025 F1 Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain: Full Report & Highlights

• 

  2025 F1 Pre-Season Testing: Day 1 Results

• 

  2025 F1 Pre-Season Testing: Day 2 Results

• 

  2025 F1 Pre-Season Testing: Day 3 Results

The afternoon session, where all the fastest times of the day were set as the sun began to set, was abruptly disrupted when an external substation failure caused a power outage. Large sections of the venue, including team garages and the track’s floodlights, were plunged into darkness, prompting race control to red-flag the session and call the cars back to the pits.

Testing was halted for an hour before power was restored, with F1, the FIA, and teams agreeing to extend the session by 60 minutes to compensate for the lost time. Once running resumed, Lando Norris quickly surged to the top, dethroning early leader Charles Leclerc with a lap on C3 medium tyres—just 0.8 seconds slower than McLaren’s best low-fuel qualifying effort at last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen finished 0.2 seconds behind pace-setter Lando Norris in the new Red Bull, while Charles Leclerc secured fourth for Ferrari and Carlos Sainz placed fifth for Williams. The six fastest times of the day all came from drivers who ran in the afternoon session, where fading daylight and slightly cooler temperatures in an already unseasonably chilly Bahrain offered improved conditions.

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli impressed in the morning, setting the early benchmark with a 1:31.428 after 78 laps. However, as the pace ramped up later in the day, he dropped to seventh, nearly a second off the top time. Haas’ Esteban Ocon completed the most laps of any driver with 88 in the extended afternoon session, ahead of Antonelli and Racing Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who both managed 78 laps.

Hamilton Settles In as Ferrari Era Begins

Much of the anticipation ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season—set to begin with the 2025 Australian Grand Prix on March 14 to March 6—has centered around Lewis Hamilton’s high-profile move to Ferrari, bringing together the sport’s most successful driver and its most legendary team.

Wednesday morning marked Hamilton’s second outing in the new SF-25, following the previous week’s Fiorano shakedown, but his first true opportunity to push the car on representative tyres. The 40-year-old completed 70 laps, gradually increasing his stints from short five-to-six-lap runs to longer double-digit efforts. Aside from a few minor wide moments at Turn 4, his session appeared to run smoothly, where he briefly kicked up sand.

Red Bull’s Liam Lawson had the morning’s most notable off-track moment, spinning the RB21 at Turn 3. Meanwhile, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar suffered a 360-degree spin at Turn 4 in the afternoon. Despite the setback, Lawson recovered to post the second-fastest morning time after 58 laps, which placed him eighth overall for the day, just ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon.

Day 1: 2025 Pre-Season Testing Bahrain Classification

Day 1 was held on 26 February 2025, between 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm local time.