Lando Norris topped the time sheets in the afternoon session of the F1 Bahrain pre-season testing, He led from George Russell and Max Verstappen.
After a clean morning session, the testing PM session was a chance for the other ten drivers to get a chance in the cars, with every team opting to swap their drivers in this second session.
Getting the cars out on track took 20 minutes of the session, but in testing that’s not a surprise with mechanics and team members having to get the cars ready for the driver change.
The VCARB was the first car to head out on track with rookie Isack Hadjar at the wheel. A Red Bull junior eager to prove himself will be up against it in 2025 with Yuki Tsunoda.
The first two hours
Max Verstappen was not far behind Hadjar, taking his RB21 onto the track in Bahrain. Verstappen has the added benefit of having their shakedown in Bahrain, meaning he knows how the car drives around Bahrain’s international circuit.
Charles Leclerc was the next frontrunner to head out on track making, unlike Verstappen needing to use the first few laps in Bahrain seeing out the car handles around the circuit. Both drivers opted for the hard tyre for their early runs.
McLaren was still working on the car as half an hour of the session passed, changing the floor of their 2025 competitor. This was eating into Lando Norris’ half of the first day of testing.
With an hour done in the first session, Verstappen had managed to get his Red Bull ahead of Liam Lawson’s morning time but 0.132 seconds. The Alpine of Pierre Gasly also found itself in second with the medium compound tyres.
Isack Hadjar has a spin but managed to keep himself on track with very little damage to the VCARB.
McLaren delays
Lando Norris managed to get out of the garage with just under three hours remaining in the session. He did a single lap and came back into the garage, getting a feel of the car.
George Russell put on the C3 tyre that will be used for qualifying come the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2025. On what was a quick lap, Russell completed the fastest lap of the day so far with a 1:31.082. The 2024 Bahrain pole time was 1:29.421 so there was still room for the teams to improve.
Charles Leclerc slotted himself behind the four-time world champions of Max Verstappen just 0.024 seconds off of the Red Bull driver on the same tyre compound.
With just over two hours left on the clock, McLaren and Sauber both lacked time for their afternoon session drivers. Lando Norris only managed four laps before returning to the garage where he had remained for the majority of the season. Gabriel Bortoleto doing much of the same.
McLaren said that there were no issues with Norris’ McLaren, instead they just chose to change the run plan but the Brit was missing out on vital running regardless.
Lando Norris finally left the garage with two hours and 15 minutes left in the afternoon session as Charles Leclerc took the fastest spot from George Russel on the timing sheets.
Leclerc broke into the 1:30s with a 1:30.878, a second clear of his teammates’ fastest time from the morning session. Again not entirely representative as we do not know the engine settings or fuel loads.
Norris’ plan change was paying off as he went to third on the timing sheets with a 1:31.251 with just Russell and Leclerc ahead of him. Leclerc was hitting just over 30 laps while Norris was sat on 9.
The second half of the session
A red flag was waved just as the two-hour mark passed, with a power cut hitting the circuit. Luckily many of the garages have backup generators but while the power on track is off the cars remain in the garage.
After half an hour the power came back on in the garages although it was still out on track. However, the power was still off in certain parts of the track keeping a yellow flag on the circuit.
The green flag was waved with 55 minutes left of running, and just as the green flag was brought out, rain started around the track. Luckily the rain was light so it wasn’t at the level of needed intermediate tyres at that point.
With only two teams bringing wet tyres to Bahrain for this test, if the rain got stronger teams would be in trouble. Finally, cars were back on track for the final 45 minutes of the session ready to put in some vitally important laps.
Something that is one of the largest changes on the Ferrari for 2025, is the shift from a push-rod front suspension to a pull-rod suspension – taking after McLaren and Red Bull. This is something that Ferrari has historically done differently but 2025 marks a massive shift for the prancing horses.
Sainz locked up his Williams as he pushed it to the limits, taking a run off the track but avoiding any barriers.
Norris put in an impressive fast lap as the session got extended by an hour. At this time, rain started to fall but disappeared quickly.
Final Moments
After an extended break in the garage, Verstappen took to the track once again. Hooking up his RB21, he jumped to second on the timesheets. With less than 40 minutes to go, Russell came out and jumped the Red Bull.
Lando Norris took to the track with his car covered in green flo-vis paint as the chequered flag prepared to come out. His mechanics were waiting in the pitlane to hide all the aero information gained.
Final Classification
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool/Peter Fox/Getty Images)
