Summary

  • Lando Norris ends opening day quickest in the McLaren

  • George Russell for Mercedes second, Red Bull's Max Verstappen third

  • Lengthy delay during afternoon session due to circuit-wide power cut

  • First look at Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari

  • Day two starts at 07:00 GMT on Thursday

  • Season-opening Australian Grand Prix 14-16 March

  • Verstappen aiming for fifth consecutive drivers' title in 2025

  • McLaren begin defence of constructors' championship

  • Get involved: #BBCF1

  1. Postpublished at 14:17 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Esteban Ocon is completely in the dark, but he waves at the camera and shows the flash on his phone.

    What would we do without our phones.

  2. Hamilton in Ferraripublished at 14:15 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Lewis HamiltonImage source, Getty Images

    We got our first look at Lewis Hamilton driving the 2025 Ferrari challenger this morning.

    He topped the timesheet a few times before clocking in a time of 1:31.834, he also completed 70 laps.

  3. Postpublished at 14:12 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    At least it is a good chance for the drivers to get out and talk to their teams about the cars.

    George Russell has been chatting away to his Mercedes team.

  4. Postpublished at 14:07 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    I hope there's some torches in the garages, the sun will be setting in Bahrain soon.

  5. red flag

    Red flagpublished at 14:04 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Red flag has been waved and the session has been stopped. Cars are making their way back into the garage.

    It seems to be a power failure across the garage.

  6. Postpublished at 14:04 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Oh. The Red Bull garage is completely in the dark! Has there been a power cut?

    Lot's going on around Max Verstappen's car.

  7. Postpublished at 14:02 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    We are halfway through the afternoon testing session. Lots of team talks and engineering work being done across the garages.

  8. What happened in the morning session?published at 14:00 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli had a great first session, he set the fastest time in the morning testing.

    His lap time was 1:31.428 and he completed 78 laps.

    Andrea Kimi AntonelliImage source, Getty Images
  9. Postpublished at 13:56 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Lando Norris went back into the garage earlier. He's now back out and looking to set a lap time.

    He's locked the fewest laps so far, just the eight.

  10. Haas focusing on race running - Bearmanpublished at 13:50 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Oliver BearmanImage source, Getty Images

    Oliver Bearman also gave Sky Sports an overview of what Haas' run plan was for the opening morning of pre-season testing.

    "We were focusing mainly on race running," said the 19-year-old. "We did many laps and completed the plan we wanted to, cycling through a few set-up options and seeing where the car stands compared to last year and building up a catalogue of what the car likes and doesn't like.

    "It was really nice to run and do so many laps for the first day. No problems on the car so successful."

  11. Postpublished at 13:46 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Lando Norris is out on the track now.

    Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is on a fast lap and topped the leaderboard with a time of 1:30.878.

  12. 'Starting to feel a bit real now' - Bearmanpublished at 13:42 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Oliver BearmanImage source, Getty Images

    Oliver Bearman completed his stint in the Haas this morning (72 laps to be exact) and the British teenager has stopped for a chat with Sky Sports.

    "It's a nice feeling to know I'm going to be here all year and I have my own car, my own garage," said Bearman about joining F1 full time. "Really exciting and it's starting to feel a bit real now.

    One his preparations over the winter, he said they were "great", adding "it was certainly too long".

    "I think by the end of this year I'll be in need of a long winter. But before my first season, I am so excited and I felt like these three months have been the longest ever. Glad to be here and glad to get started again," said Bearman.

    "Physical training was a big thing: lots of cardio and getting ready for the year. The mental side of things, of course, I'm a lot more busy now; I didn't really anticipate that. But then my calendar started filling up and once you get started, it's from the start of February and you're pretty much flat out until the end of the year.

    "It's definitely different; you need to be organised, which is not typically my strong point. But [I'm] working on it. It's all change and I'm very happy with that."

  13. Postpublished at 13:39 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Max Verstappen goes a little wide on his lap. He's completed 21 so far.

  14. Postpublished at 13:37 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Lando Norris has hopped back into his McLaren. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is racing down the track.

  15. Postpublished at 13:31 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Lando Norris and Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto are yet to set lap times.

    There's still 2 hours and 30 minutes left, so plenty of time to get some laps in.

  16. Postpublished at 13:29 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Max Verstappen is back in the garage, he's out of the car as his engineers take a look.

    Charles Leclerc is also back in the garage

  17. Latest leaderboardpublished at 13:27 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    1. George Russell (Mercedes) - 1:31.082

    2. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.361

    3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.362

    4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.386

    5. Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.019

    6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.263

    7. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +1.985

    8. Esteban Ocon (Haas) +3.416

    9. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

    10. Lando Norris (McLaren)

  18. Laps completed so farpublished at 13:20 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    George Russell has completed eight laps, Pierre Gasly is on 17, Max Verstappen on 18. Charles Leclerc has clocked 15 laps, his former teammate Carlos Sainz is on 10.

    Lance Stroll is also on 10 laps, Isack Hadjar is on 16. Esteban Ocon is on 17 laps. Gabriel Bortoleto has 10 laps completed and Lando Norris is on four laps.

  19. Bearman spies changes for Hamiltonpublished at 13:18 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    Chris Medland
    F1 journalist in Bahrain

    Oliver Bearman in the Haas garageImage source, Getty Images

    Oliver Bearman was one of the busier drivers in the morning session with 72 laps to his name, and said he was relatively encouraged by the confidence his Haas was giving him. He also called the wind "a blessing in disguise" as handling in those conditions is a key area for teams to work on, even if he admits it was less fun from a driving point of view.

    But he also had time to look at what other teams were doing, and in particular Lewis Hamilton's steering wheel at Ferrari.

    "On his Mercedes steering wheel, the DRS button, on Ferrari it's 'neutral'," Bearman said. "So I think he moved a few things around to save things. But when changing [teams], even me when I went to Haas, just moving things around compared to what you're used to is important. And I can imagine after 10 years in the same car, you build up some habits."

    Such changes aren't unusual, as drivers can even have different steering wheel set-ups compared to their respective team-mates. For example, Bearman has one clutch paddle on his steering wheel, while team-mate Esteban Ocon has two, with the difference solely based on driver preference.

  20. Postpublished at 13:14 Greenwich Mean Time 26 February

    George Russell is on a fast lap, can he overtake his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the top spot?

    Yes he can, he clocks in a 1:31.082 on the time sheet.