Lando Norris topped the first day of F1 2025 testing around Bahrain, with all 20 drivers involved in the action as the covers came off the new cars.
The afternoon session was halted by over an hour after a regional power outage saw the circuit’s floodlights and garage electricity temporarily out of use, though it remained a productive day for those on track.
After a productive morning session that saw the drivers complete more than 650 laps combined, it was all change as every team swapped drivers for the afternoon.
There were 20 minutes before the teams got out on track, too, with adjustments being made to the cars through the hour-long lunch break, but it was not long before the drivers began gradually emerging on track for their afternoon of running as they got their first action in pre-season testing.
Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, and Pierre Gasly all surpassed the quickest time from the morning set by Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes, with the track rubbering in through unseasonably cool conditions in Bahrain.
Isack Hadjar, taking part in his rookie season in Formula 1, was the first to spin in the afternoon, completing a full 360-degree pirouette on the exit of the right-hander of Turn 4 as he caught a slide, and was able to keep going.
Russell’s initial quickest time improved to the best time of the day a 1:31.082 on the C3 tyre, before Leclerc was the first driver to move into the 1:30s on the first day of testing.
Halfway through the session, as floodlights began to be required for vision, a regional power cut brought out the red flag around the Bahrain International Circuit as the drivers were forced back into the pit lane.
