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.

F1 2025 testing: Lando Norris tops Day 1 after afternoon power outage

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° pirouette on the exit of the right-hander of Turn 4 as he caught a slide, and was able to keep going.

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Russell’s initial quickest time improved the best time of the day to 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.

It was over an hour before the drivers were able to get back out on track again, with electricity first returning in the pit lane before power in the floodlights came back, lighting up on a staggered basis throughout the circuit before the action could get back underway.

With only 50 minutes remaining, all drivers looked to get back out on track as soon as possible, but the FIA and Formula 1 added an extra hour to the day’s running to account for the time lost in the delay.

As news of that extension came through, Norris moved four tenths faster than Leclerc to set the fastest time of the day on the C3 tyre, with the time of day closer to what could be expected during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Unusually for the Bahrain International Circuit, though, spots of rain were in the air – though not enough to prompt a switch to wet-weather tyres.

The drivers looked to make up for lost time as Verstappen moved up to third, two tenths behind Norris’ benchmark, with lap counts increasing throughout the evening in Bahrain.

Carlos Sainz, in his first pre-season test for Williams, found his way into the top five as he logged plenty of data for his new team, with Russell improving to second as he took half a second off his previous best.

In all, more than three quarters of the grid completed more than a race distance around Bahrain in the first day of testing, with Norris and McLaren topping the timesheets – though six different teams occupied the top six places on the day.

F1 testing 2025: Day 1 leaderboard

*- Driver took part in morning session, lap counts in brackets

1 Lando Norris, McLaren 1:30.430 (52)
2 George Russell, Mercedes 1:30.587 (70)
3 Max Verstappen, Red Bull 1:30.674 (74)
4 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 1:30.878 (71)
5 Carlos Sainz, Williams 1:30.955 (68)
6 Pierre Gasly, Alpine 1:31.353 (72)
7 Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes 1:31.428 (78)*
8 Liam Lawson, Red Bull 1:31.560 (58)*
9 Alexander Albon, Williams 1:31.573 (63)*
10 Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls 1:31.610 (77)*
11 Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls 1:31.631 (76)
12 Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber 1:31.690 (59)
13 Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari 1:31.834 (70)*
14 Jack Doohan, Alpine 1:31.841 (68)*
15 Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin 1:31.874 (46)*
16 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin 1:31.949 (42)
15 Oscar Piastri, McLaren 1:32.084 (65)*
16 Nico Hulkenberg, Kick Sauber 1:32.169 (55)*
19 Esteban Ocon, Haas 1:33.600 (88)
20 Oliver Bearman, Haas 1:35.522 (72)*

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