Manama: McLaren driver and world champion Lando Norris recorded the fastest time as the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) kicked off the official pre-season testing for the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship.
According to Bahrain News Agency, although Norris participated only in the afternoon session, he finished the day in first place. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen surprised everyone during the tests by setting the fastest time in the morning session at 1:35.433, before Norris was able to record 1:34.669 in the afternoon.
In the final five minutes of the day, Verstappen began a series of quick laps in an attempt to take the lead, but he ended the day in second place, just 0.129 seconds behind McLaren's fastest time with Norris. Verstappen was one of only two drivers to complete more than 100 laps during the day, finishing 136 laps, while most other teams chose to split the testing programme between their drivers in the morning and afternoon sessions.
After Lewis Hamilton participated in the morning session, Charles Leclerc took over the Ferrari in the afternoon and completed 79 laps on his way to recording the third-best time, ahead of Esteban Ocon, who completed the second-highest number of laps in the Haas after driving for the full day, as was the case with Verstappen.
Norris's McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri had a morning time that was enough to finish the day in fifth place, ahead of George Russell in sixth for Mercedes, while Lewis Hamilton came seventh after participating only in the morning session. Eighth place went to Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, who participated in the afternoon, noting that his teammate Franco Colapinto took part in the morning session and caused the red flags to be raised, briefly stopping the tests due to a mechanical issue with his car, finishing the day in eighteenth place.
Audi attracted technical attention in Formula 1 after revealing a distinctive design for the side openings and body of the car, with radical differences from the specifications used in the initial Barcelona tests. After Gabriel Bortoleto participated in the morning session and finished fifteenth, between Cadillac drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas respectively, his teammate Nico Hulkenberg took part in the afternoon session and caused the red flags to be raised after his car stopped on track, before the team was able to quickly address the issue and continue its programme in Sakhir.
Alexander Albon completed the top ten with Williams, which made its first appearance in Formula 1 collective testing after missing the initial Barcelona tests, while Kimi Antonelli was eleventh for Mercedes after participating in the morning session, ahead of Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad, with Carlos Sainz finishing thirteenth at the end of the tests.
Lance Stroll participated in a full day of testing in the new Aston Martin car equipped with a Honda power unit and was able to collect important data, finishing the day in seventeenth place. For those wishing to attend the official Formula 1 tests, tickets are available at BD10 for adults and BD5 for children per day via the Bahrain International Circuit website Bahraingp.com or by calling 17450000.