Magnussen of McLaren leads F1 testing in Bahrain

Manama, Bahrain: Mercedes engines led the way at Formula One pre-season testing as Kevin Magnussen of McLaren topped the time sheets on Thursday.

Magnussen lapped the desert Sakhir Circuit in 1 minute, 34.910 seconds to edge Nico Hulkenberg of Force India — who also used the German manufacturer’s engine — by over half a second.

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was third with 1:36.516, in front of Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. Valtteri Bottas of Williams rounded out the top five.

Red Bull’s tepid pre-season continued with four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel finishing with a seventh-best lap of 1:40.340 thanks to a Renault engine.

Vettel says “we did more laps [59] than we have done so far and that’s the big thing.”

The season begins on March 16 at the Australian Grand Prix.