Norris sets benchmark on Day 1 in Bahrain
McLaren driver Lando Norris ended up quickest on the opening day of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, narrowly beating George Russell, reigning champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari racer Charles Leclerc.
The first day of running was bizarrely halted by a power cut midway through the afternoon session, with the circuit-wide power outage having caused the session to be red-flagged for over an hour as the paddock and garages descended into darkness. Once power was restored, the session was extended by an extra hour to compensate for the lost running.
Having sat out the opening part of the day, Lando Norris quickly found his way to the sharp end of the field, posting a time of 1m30.430s. It was 0.157s quicker than what Mercedes’ George Russell managed.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was a couple of tenths adrift in third for Red Bull, but his long-run pace looked impressive.
Charles Leclerc led the early part of the afternoon session, but he dropped down to fourth. The Monegasque focused on heavy-fuel runs in the closing stages of the session.
Leclerc's former team-mate Carlos Sainz was an eye-catching fifth for Williams, with Alpine driver Pierre Gasly ending up sixth fastest on the first day of testing.
Mercedes' 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli set the pace in the morning session before handing over to Mercedes teammate Russell, set the seventh quickest lap time.
Having completed several private test outing in Fiorano and Barcelona in the past weeks, Lewis Hamilton made his first official appearance with Ferrari. The seven-time world champion finished 13th-fastest overall.
