Bahrain F1® Testing News

 

McLaren tops the Times, but Red Bull is looking good

I, for one, am excited to see F1® cars back on a race track in a semi-competitive way, and this game of chess we call Formula One® testing is playing out in the most interesting way.

As the sun has set on Day One in Bahrain, and while the timesheets tell one story, the reality is that we still dont know who is sandbagging or running different strategic fuel loads.

Lando Leads the Way

Lando Norris officially put McLaren on top today, clocking a 1m 34.669s in the cooler afternoon air. 

After taking over from Oscar Piastri, driving through the Sakhir sectors with confidence.

But as any veteran of the Senate Grand Prix knows, testing is a game of smoke and mirrors. Fuel loads, engine maps, and chassis pressure loads remain a mystery—yet the pace is undeniably there.

The Warning Shot: Red Bull’s In-House Power

While Norris grabbed the glory, the paddock was fixated on Max Verstappen.

Red Bull’s first-ever in-house power unit—the Red Bull-Ford DM01—didn't just survive; it thrived.

  

Max logged a massive 136 laps, the most of any driver, finishing just 0.129s behind Norris. The "Red Bull Powertrains" era is officially underway, and rival teams are already poring over GPS data suggesting Max is making significant gains on the straights. 

Toto Wolff himself admitted today: "The car and the power unit are the benchmark."

The Struggle: Mercedes and Ferrari

It wasn't all smooth sailing for the giants:

• Mercedes: A difficult afternoon for Kimi Antonelli saw him sidelined for hours with a suspension niggle. He managed a defiant 30-lap burst in the final hour to hit P11, but the Silver Arrows have work to do.
• Ferrari: Charles Leclerc finished P3, half a second back, but the SF-26 looked "handful" in the morning. Lewis Hamilton’s early spin served as a stark reminder that these new, nimble cars aren't interested in being easy to drive.

At Senate Grand Prix, we are watching the "Green" track surface evolve. 

The fuel loads will shift, and the true hierarchy will begin to emerge leading to the first race in Australia.

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