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. Signs of performancepublished at 12:10 Greenwich Mean Time

    Chris Medland
    F1 journalist in Bahrain

    Oscar PiastriImage source, Getty Images

    Just before lunchtime, there were some interesting signs of relative performance at the tricky Turn 11. There was a fluctuating tail wind into that relatively high-speed, uphill left-hand corner at the end of the back straight, and the level of confidence of the drivers was clear from how early they picked up the throttle.

    The rear end of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari appeared not to want to grip on a few occasions, as he was sliding through the second half of the corner, whereas Oscar Piastri looked like he could be aggressive on turn-in and the McLaren stayed compliant throughout.

    The same could be said for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was able to carry plenty of speed on entry and ended the morning on top of the time sheets, while Alex Albon asked a little bit too much of his WIlliams on one lap and ran too wide on to the exit kerb.

  2. Postpublished at 12:08 Greenwich Mean Time

    George Russell is not in his car, he's waving at the camera, wearing a very shiny silver jacket.

  3. Day one afternoon schedulepublished at 12:05 Greenwich Mean Time

    Lando Norris - McLaren

    Charles Leclerc - Ferrari

    George Russell - Mercedes

    Max Verstappen - Red Bull

    Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls

    Pierre Gasly - Alpine

    Carlos Sainz - Williams

    Lance Stroll - Aston Martin

    Esteban Ocon - Haas

    Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber

  4. Postpublished at 12:02 Greenwich Mean Time

    The clock has began to tick down, but no one's in a rush to leave the garages.

    Here's who will be driving in the afternoon session.

  5. Welcome back!published at 12:00 Greenwich Mean Time

    Hello again.

    It's time for the afternoon session on day one of testing.

    Lewis HamiltonImage source, Getty Images
  6. See you at 12:00 GMTpublished at 11:03 Greenwich Mean Time

    Right, time to grab a break.

    We will be back for the afternoon session from 12:00 GMT.

    See you then!

  7. Leaderboardpublished at 11:02 Greenwich Mean Time

    1. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 1:31.428

    2. Liam Lawson (Red Bull) +0.132

    3. Alex Albon (Williams) +0.145

    4. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) +0.182

    5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.406

    6. Jack Doohan (Alpine) +0.413

    7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.446

    8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.656

    9. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) +0.741

    10. Oliver Bearman (Haas) +4.094

  8. chequered flag

    Chequered flagpublished at 11:01 Greenwich Mean Time

    That's the end of the morning testing session.

    It's been a decent morning, minus a few oversteers.

    Time for the drivers to get back into the garage.

  9. New faces at Haaspublished at 10:58 Greenwich Mean Time

    Chris Medland
    F1 journalist in Bahrain

    Ollie BearmanImage source, Getty Images

    At Haas, one of the big points of focus for these three days in Bahrain will be bedding in not only an entirely new driver line-up in Esteban Ocon and rookie Oliver Bearman, but a new race operations team as well.

    That includes a new chief race engineer in the form of Francesco Neri, and a new race engineer for each driver - Laura Mueller for Esteban Ocon and Ronan O'Hare for Bearman - while the new sporting director is a familiar name, with Mark Lowe having worked for the team in the past. Haas also have a new head of strategy joining, with Carine Cridelich set to join from Racing Bulls next month.

  10. Postpublished at 10:55 Greenwich Mean Time

    There's some flying laps happening on the track, can drivers clock in faster lap times?

    Antonelli and Tsunoda are on the most laps, 74 for the pair.

  11. Postpublished at 10:50 Greenwich Mean Time

    Just 10 minutes to go of the morning session.

    What else can the drivers do before they pass on testing duties to their teammates.

  12. Postpublished at 10:44 Greenwich Mean Time

    68 laps now completed for Yuki Tsunoda, Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

    At the other end, Fernando Alonso has clocked 40 laps.

  13. Postpublished at 10:41 Greenwich Mean Time

    Max VerstappenImage source, Getty Images

    Max Verstappen has been watching on from the Red Bull garage. We will see him in the car for the afternoon session.

  14. Postpublished at 10:37 Greenwich Mean Time

    McLaren's Oscar Piastri has joined the pack. He's on an out lap, but we will see what time he clocks in soon.

  15. Postpublished at 10:33 Greenwich Mean Time

    Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton, Jack Doohan and Yuki Tsunoda are on their out laps.

    Andrea Kimi Antonelli has completed the most laps so far, 66 for the Mercedes rookie.

  16. Postpublished at 10:31 Greenwich Mean Time

    There is just 30 minutes to go of the morning session on day one of testing.

  17. Postpublished at 10:26 Greenwich Mean Time

    Oliver Bearman is back out on track and has also done a race distance, clocking in 57 laps.

  18. Postpublished at 10:23 Greenwich Mean Time

    Alex Albon and Liam Lawson are on their out lap, Lewis Hamilton has also joined them.

  19. Postpublished at 10:18 Greenwich Mean Time

    Tsunoda and Antonelli are joined by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso on the track.

    Everyone else is back in their team garages.

  20. Postpublished at 10:15 Greenwich Mean Time

    Racing Bull's Yuki Tsunoda has clocked in the most laps so far, he's on 57 and completed a race distance in Bahrain.

    Andrea Kimi Antonelli has also clocked 57 laps so far.