Formula 1 pre-season testing kicked off on Wednesday, and through Friday, teams and drivers will aim to maximize their programs. Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli topped the charts in the morning, while McLaren Lando Norris set the fastest time overall on Day 1 in Bahrain.
Pre-season testing spans from Wednesday through Friday, split into morning and afternoon sessions at the Bahrain International Circuit.
This valuable time allows teams and drivers to run their intensive working programs, assess true performance, and gather pivotal data in the build-up for the 2025 season launch in Australia in two weeks.
The inaugural day of testing saw seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton clocked in 70 laps (379 kilometers) with a best time of 1:31.834s, set on the C3s in the morning session, his first official outing on board Scuderia Ferrari’s new challenger, the SF-25.
“It’s the first time you get to see what everyone has been developing and can start to get a feel for your own car and the year ahead. Being here with Scuderia Ferrari HP and in the SF-25 for the first time is an incredible feeling,” the Briton asserted after his on-track debut with the Maranello outfit.
According to the Prancing Horse, the SF-25 is completely new, designed as an evolution of last year’s car.
For his part, teammate Charles Leclerc took over in the afternoon, recording 71laps (384 km) with a best lap time of 1:30.878s, set on C3 tires.
The Italian team shared that the Monegasque driver ran a nearly identical program to his new teammate, “a thorough mapping to get an in-depth picture of the whole car, as well as checking the correlation between the on-track data and that gathered in the simulator over the past few months.”
Together, they completed 141 laps at the wheel of the 71st single-seater built by Ferrari for the Formula 1 world championship.
Meanwhile, Italian driver Kimi Antonelli, who was promoted from F2 to the Formula 1 grid, replacing no other than Hamilton at the Silver Arrows, made his pre-season testing debut and topped the timesheets in the morning with a 1:31.428s lap time on the C3s (medium tire).
The 18-year-old rookie set the pace on board the Mercedes-AMG F1 W16 E Performance while teammate George Russell finished his afternoon session with 70 laps under his belt.
Red Bull Racing Liam Lawson set off proceeding as a full-time driver with the squad, completing 58 laps before four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen hit the track in Bahrain, adding 74 laps at the wheel of the new RB21.
Briton Lando Norris set the fastest time in the PM session for McLaren on a set of new C3s in 1:30.430; he racked up 52 laps.
“It’s nice to be back in the car! It was a good, fun day on track, and we progressed through a lot of the tests we wanted to do. I’m looking forward to pushing the car a bit more over the next couple of days.”
Driving the MCL39, teammate Oscar Piastri rounded up 66 laps for the Woking-based outfit.
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella shared his first impressions about Day 1 in Sakhir, outlining: “A productive first day for the MCL39 in official testing. The team and drivers did a good job of working through a busy run plan, and we ended the day with much more information.
“Oscar focused largely on aero tests this morning, and we then developed on our base setup with Lando this afternoon, making further changes.
“Conditions today were cooler than normal and windy, which created some challenges around the track for everyone.”
Alpine Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan split the opening day, completing 140 laps (758km).
“It’s been a solid day’s work, even if our afternoon was a little interrupted by the red flag,” Gasly said.
“It was good that the session was extended, and we could complete our program without missing out on any track time. The car felt good right away. I am pleased with the initial feeling at the wheel.”
The FIA, F1, and the teams agreed on extending the afternoon session an hour to compensate for the time lost under a red flag due to a power outage.
The 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship will launch at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
