Following three days of pre-season testing, Formula One drew action to a close on Friday afternoon in Bahrain, indicating no clear favorite, a tight midfield, and leaving plenty of data for the teams to analyze in the factories before the lights go out in Melbourne, Australia.
Throughout six testing sessions, summing up a total of 25 hours over three days, teams focussed on maximizing their program and refining the new challenger’s performance with drivers hard at work on track, experiencing true pace for the first time ahead of the opening round in Australia on March 16.
As usual, pre-season testing leaves no absolute conclusions, considering each team runs individual programs influenced by different engine modes, tires, fuel load, etc.
However, the usual suspects, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, McLaren F1, Scuderia Ferrari HP, and OracleRed Bull Racing seemed to continue in a league of their own, yet, they are not in the same boat.
Reliability ruled throughout the paddock, while consistency only tightened the top as the midfield, headlined by Atlassian Williams Racing and BWT Alpine.
George Russell topped the final session with the new Mercedes W16, ranking up a 1:29.545 lap time, adding 91 laps under his belt.
Moreover, the Briton was the fourth fastest of all sessions (1:29.545); alongside new teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Brackley squad completed 458 laps, more than any other team.
Antonelli rounded up his program without any significant incident on debut; the 18-year-old rookie was solid and consistent, showing signs of progress under different track and weather conditions.
Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin outlined: “Over the next week, we will pick through that data to assess areas of improvement and to bring the most effective race car we can for the first race in Melbourne.
“It is, of course, far too early to make an accurate prediction of the competitive order. However, we can be pleased with how the test has gone and look forward to heading to Australia to begin the 2025 season.”
Meanwhile, McLaren assessed pre-season testing as productive and added: “Some things felt quite good, others still need improvement.”
There is always room for improvement; their campaign last season, making a slow start to finish as F1 world constructor’s champions, is a testament to how much the team founded by Bruce McLaren can accomplish in 2025.
The MCL39 is fast and will be even faster in Australia when all the cards are on the table. Their driver lineup is fine-tuned, young but experienced, and incredibly talented.
Splitting the morning and afternoon sessions, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri mastered the longer runs, completing 381 laps for the papaya outfit.
Team Principal Andrea Stella stressed: “The end of three productive days here in Bahrain. We completed our aero tests this morning before giving both Lando and Oscar a chance for some runs to allow them to gain insight into the capabilities of the car before we head to Australia.
“We also took the opportunity to make some further setup changes as we continue to learn about the characteristics of the MCL39.”
Ferrari finished second and third fastest overall with seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Monegasque Charles Leclerc.
Together, they completed 385 laps (2084 km) behind the wheel of the SF-25, but all eyes stayed on Hamilton, making his debut in red.
“The whole team has done an incredible job, and I am so excited to get to the first race in Melbourne. I can’t wait to go racing with them,” he said.
The stakes are high for the Maranello squad, chasing its first driver’s title since [[Kimi Raikkonen] surged to victory in 2007.
According to the Prancing Horse, the SF-25 is completely new, designed as an evolution of last year’s car. Nonetheless, the questions about whether it is the car to win a championship remain unanswered following Bahrain.
For its part, Red Bull completed 384 laps with the RB21, a car that made the life of four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen difficult, experiencing understeer.
Milton Keynes-based team opted to try a series of setups with the Dutch, leaving with no clear picture of where his race pace could be in terms of race simulation.
Verstappen finished fifth overall with a best time of 1.29.566.
After rounding up his program, the reigning champion asserted: “We had a decent day today; there were a few little problems, but overall, we completed quite a bit of what we wanted to do.”
Teammate Liam Lawson also struggled at the wheel as his outing was compromised on day two by the weather conditions and a loss of engine water pressure.
Previously, the team ran a race-simulation program for general reliability checks, utilizing unpredictable conditions to gain the most knowledge in the driver from New Zealand’s first full day at the wheel of the new car.
The Midfield
Carlos Sainz is quickly adapting to his new British home; the Spaniard finished quickest overall at the wheel of the FW47.
The four-time Grand Prix winner topped the charts on Thursday, securing the best timing of all sessions, delivering a 1:29.348 flying lap, 0.573s quicker than his 2024 best timing (1:29.921) when he was a Ferrari racer.
Alpine collected 405 laps with Pierre Gasly and rookie Jack Doohan.
Oliver Oakes, Team Principal, commented: “Testing is never easy to fully understand where you stand in the pecking order. We’ve really focused on ourselves this week, and I am pleased with the things we have learned and how we have progressed across the three days. We have a good base to work from and a solid foundation to start the season.
“Both drivers completed plenty of laps, which is important for them, and also good to get mileage on certain components to test reliability.”
From Wednesday to Friday, Sakhir resembled a European city instead of a desert area due to the usual weather conditions all 10 teams and 20 drivers experienced at the Bahrain International Circuit.
After his final pre-season outing, Leclerc outlined: “This has been a very different type of pre-season test because of the inconsistent weather in Bahrain, making it hard to come to any real conclusions. The wind changed from run to run, there was some rain yesterday, and temperatures fluctuated over the week, so all the teams will head to the first race with some more unknowns compared to the past few years.
“We still learned a huge amount, especially in terms of the way the car feels now that we’ve actually been out on track.”
All outfits had the chance to test the Pirelli range of homologated dry-weather tires (six compounds).
According to the tire manufacturer, a squad could select up to 35 sets, using a top of 30 sets over the three days.
The Tires
Pirelli’s Director of Motorsport, Mario Isola, remarked: “For years now, Formula 1 has chosen this circuit for the only pre-season test of the season because the weather is usually very favorable, but that was not the case this week, especially the first two days.
“Low temperatures, considerably lower than at this time of year in previous years, and strong wind affected the teams’ work and made it even harder than usual to interpret the results, with no previous reference points on this track at such low temperatures.”
Adding: “From what we could see, the C2 behaved as expected, confirming that it was further from the C1 than last year and therefore closer to the C3. The hardest compound struggled a bit in these temperatures, while the C3 proved to be the most versatile of the range.”
The 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship will launch at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
