Norris sets best lap time ahead of Verstappen in Bahrain
Red Bull driver completes 136 laps and hits day’s top speed at 336.4kmph
Dubai: The first day of official pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on Wednesday ended the same way as the 2025 Formula 1 season finished at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi — with McLaren’s Lando Norris finishing on top ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Norris, who took over from McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri for the afternoon session, purred his way to a time of 1m 34.669s as day gradually turned to night at the desert venue. Verstappen’s best lap was 0.129 seconds slower than the world champion, although the Dutchman achieved the top speed of the day at 336.4kmph.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc placed third, half a second down on Norris’ time, followed by the Haas of Esteban Ocon, Piastri and the Mercedes of George Russell and seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who started the day for the Scuderia.
Much-needed mileage
Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon rounded out the top 10 for Alpine and Williams, respectively — the latter team getting some much-needed mileage on the board after they missed the Barcelona Shakedown due to car preparation delays.
Cadillac split their running between experienced returning duo Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, who sandwiched Gabriel Bortoleto in positions 14 to 16.
In terms of mileage, as one of four drivers to spend the whole day on track, Verstappen topped the charts via a very healthy return of 136 laps, with Ocon the other to hit the 100-lap milestone individually.
Drivers and teams will now regroup in the Sakhir paddock to dig through the data and prepare for Thursday’s running, with Isack Hadjar, Fernando Alonso, Ollie Bearman and Liam Lawson all set to complete their first laps of the test.
