Lando Norris got McLaren's 2025 season off to the possible start today, as he set the pace on the opening day of pre-season testing.

All 20 drivers were on track for the opening day, providing an early taste of the show that will be on offer from Melbourne onwards.

They faced what, for Bahrain, were rather unusual weather conditions, not just because the actual air temperature hovered around the 15 degree C mark for most of the day, but because of the wind chill factor making it feel considerably colder, thanks to gusts from the north which also blew sand onto the track.

On the tyre front, the C3 saw the most usage, completing over three quarters of the total number of laps (1017 out of 1326, 76.7%). Two other compounds out of the possible six were also used: the C2 (279 laps, 21.04%) and the C1 (30, 2.26%), the latter only by Lando Norris (McLaren) and France's Pierre Gasly (Alpine). These three compounds are actually the ones that will be available for the Grand Prix here in April.

As was the case in the second part of last season, the field looked very evenly matched, with the top six on the time sheet coming from six different teams. Norris was quickest on a set of new C3s in 1:30.430, nine tenths quicker than the best time set on the first day of this test in 2024 by Max Verstappen (Red Bull), a 1:31.344.

Today, the Dutch four-time world champion was third quickest (1:30.674) behind George Russell who posted a 1:30.587 in the Mercedes, both these times set on the C3 compound.

Behind this trio came two drivers who were team-mates last year, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz: Ferrari's Monegasque driver was fourth on 1:30.878, while the Spaniard, now with Williams, was fifth on 1:30.995.

Rounding off the top six was Gasly with a best time of 1:31.353. The driver who did the most laps today was Haas' Esteban Ocon (88). The longest stint came courtesy of Jack Doohan (24 laps on a set of C2s), while the longest run on the C3 was completed by Yuki Tsunoda who did 23 laps in the RB. The distance prize on the C1 goes to Norris with 17 laps.

The track was open for an hour longer than planned as the session had to be red flagged because of a power blackout that left the entire circuit facility without any electricity for almost an hour. The FIA, F1 and the teams all agreed to make up the lost time so that the chequered flag finally fell at 20.00 local time.

"It's nice to be back in the car!" said pace-setter Lando Norris. "A big shout-out to the team for getting everything ready and prepared for today. It was a good, fun day on track, and we progressed through a lot of the tests that we wanted to do. I'm looking forward to pushing the car a bit more over the next couple of days."

"So, the first day in the MCL39 is done," added Oscar Piastri. "Thank you to everyone in the team for getting us ready for today. It was a productive morning for me, as we tried quite a few different things and it was really nice to be back on track. We still have many more areas to cover in the coming days to keep putting the car through its paces and to see how it works, but overall, a solid day."

"A productive first day for the MCL39," said Andrea Stella. "The team and drivers did a good job to work through a busy run plan, and we end the day with much more information. Oscar focused largely on aero tests this morning and we then developed on our base set up with Lando this afternoon, making further changes.

"Conditions today were cooler than normal and also windy, which created some challenges around the track for everyone. Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of the team at track and back in the UK, we have gathered a lot of important data we can build on tomorrow."

Fernando was first out in this morning, collecting data over 46 laps. in the afternoon, it was Stroll's turn to get behind the wheel, the Canadian completing 42 laps as he collected valuable information amid chilly conditions.

"It's good to be back," said the Canadian. "It's always an exciting time of the year, when everything gets started again. A lot of work has gone into the AMR25, and we've used learning from last year to improve various areas of the car. It's still very early days, but it's good to be back in the car."

"We've been learning about the car, learning about standard systems, some of which gave us little issues in the morning," said Andy Cowell. "We're one day in out of three, and it's an exceptionally condensed test schedule. So, really, we need to wait for the end of day three.

"We are making some conclusions as we go along, as we build a package up. I'm looking forward to Monday morning, once everything's been crunched over the weekend."

"From the driving I did today everything felt good," said Max Verstappen. "Only good surprises which was good. We don't know pace yet but everything is working well and the car is doing what I want it to do. It is all in control and that is what we can hope for really to start of my testing. We are constantly learning and trying different things and will continue to do so. It is not about hitting the perfect lap but it is about working on our testing programme and learning what direction we need to push the car forwards to get it under control."

"I had so much fun out there today," added Liam Lawson, "and it was so good to finally drive the new car properly and do some laps. It feels okay but obviously it is very early days, so it's very much about learning at the moment. For me, there is a lot more to come because I need to learn a lot moving teams but from a Team side we are just trying to learn about the new car, and optimise these testing days. We had a plan of test items, and we managed to go through the whole plan, which is always good.

"We go into tomorrow with a lot more running and a better idea of where to improve the car. It's hard to tell where we are in terms of pace but the car feels good to drive and comfortable. Testing is just as important to me, as it is for the Team to learn about the car. It's crucial to maximise these days before Melbourne."

"Today was a good working day with both drivers," said Red Bul's texchnical director, Pierre Wache. "With Liam in the morning, we tried to make some set-up changes to see how the car reacted to it and then in the afternoon when we changed to Max, we continued the programme with a different set-up change to see how we can understand the car for the next couple of days of Testing. We used two compounds, the C2 and C3, for both drivers, mainly to be able to do a consistent run and not focussed on extracting the most of the lap time but to understand how the car reacts."

The Ferrari pair completed a total of 141 laps, Hamilton and Leclerc running the same programme which centred on the usual tests for a new car on its first run, rather than on performance.

Hamilton was first out on track, the car fitted with aero rakes for the first few laps to take measurements, while running the C2 tyre. On today's menu, a thorough mapping to get an in-depth picture of the whole car, as well as checking the correlation between the on-track data and that gathered in the simulator over the past few months. Hamilton also ran the C3 tyre with different aero configurations and fuel loads, as well as doing some practice starts and pit stops. He completed 70 laps (379 kilometres) with a best time of 1:31.834, set on the C3s.

During the lunch break, the cockpit settings were changed to suit Leclerc, who took to the track shortly after 15:00. He ran an almost identical programme to his team-mate, starting on the C2 tyres before switching to C3, continuing with the mapping work and getting to grips with the SF-25, but with no thought of performance. He also ran various fuel loads, as the team gathered data from several areas of the car, ending the day with some practice starts. The Monegasque's best time, from a total of 71 laps (384 kilometres) was a 1:30.878, set on C3 tyres.

"Testing is always exciting," said Hamilton. "It's the first time you get to see what everyone has been developing and can start to get a feel for your own car and the year ahead. Being here with Scuderia Ferrari HP and in the SF-25 for the first time is an incredible feeling. Our focus right now is on experimenting with different things, gathering as much data as possible and getting familiar with the car, and we've already learned a lot.

"It's too early to really understand performance, but everything feels good and as a team we're working on the best way to optimise each run. There's more to do over the next few days to get through our programme and understand the car to the best of our ability, but right now I'm looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow."

"It feels good to be back on track," added Leclerc. "The whole team put a lot of effort into the SF-25 project over the winter break, so it's exciting to finally get down to work with it.
It's always a positive to have a smooth session without anything unexpected happening in terms of your run plan, although of course, it's still too early to come to any conclusions about our performance.

"We're going to analyse our data from today and make use of what we learn tonight when we start work again tomorrow."

"It's been a solid day's work even if our afternoon was a little interrupted with the red flag," said Pierre Gasly. "It was good that the session was extended and we could complete our programme without missing out on any track time. The car felt good right away and I am pleased with the initial feeling at the wheel. Everything worked as expected and we began to explore different set-ups which gives us some direction for the rest of the week. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing the work in the morning and targeting another productive day alongside Jack."

"After Monday's shakedown, it's really good to be on track again and having a full morning's running," added Jack Doohan. "I enjoyed being in the car and really having a good feel for everything across various set-ups and compounds. A massive thank you to the whole team at Enstone and Viry for their work over the winter and having the car ready and prepared for this test. I'll be supporting the team and watching closely in the morning before I am back in the car tomorrow afternoon looking to continue working through the programme."

"It's always good to finally get a new car to the track and begin to understand how the performance and personality of the car compares to expectation," admitted Dave Robson, Williams chief engineer. "We have worked hard during the FW47 development period to resolve the weaknesses of last year's car and to ensure that FW47 is competitive in a broad range of conditions. Carlos' feedback from driving last year's car in Abu Dhabi confirmed that we were focused on the right areas but only today could we begin the process of understanding whether that focus has been rewarded.

"Conditions were cool and gusty all day," he continued, "and whilst not necessarily representative of how the weather will be when we return here for the Grand Prix next month, they are quite useful conditions in which to push the car and to explore its consistency.

"The car ran reliably all day allowing both drivers to get some valuable experience in the it. Based on their experience today, and using the data we collected from over 700km of smooth running, we will plan the final two days of pre-season testing. Carlos will continue in the car tomorrow before Alex takes over for the final day on Friday. There is inevitably a lot of work left to be done in a short space of time, however, we have had a good start and are in a position to push the car harder over the next two days."

"It was an okay day today," said Albon. "We still have a few things to work on, but our base car feels pretty sensible. This is what Testing's about, trying to understand the systems and whether there are things we need to address. We've made a few changes to the car which is positive. As a team, we've had a couple of opportunities to run the car already this year so that's a good thing - but as drivers, we always wish we had more time. All in all though, it was good to get out there!"

"Overall, it was a positive first day for the team," added Sainz, "especially given some of the track stoppages we had with the blackout. We managed to complete the run plan, and we got in a lot of laps which is always the main target of the first day. First impressions are positive but obviously between now and the next couple of days, we'll try to improve the balance of the car in both short and long runs."

Stake had a solid first day, the team completed a full day of running with the C45, with Nico Hulkenberg driving in the morning, while team rookie, Gabriel Bortoleto, took over in the afternoon.

Despite the power outage which affected all teams' track operations in the afternoon, both sessions ran smoothly for both drivers, with the pair completing more than 110 laps... a steady start to the season.

"We had a solid and productive first day today," said Hulkenberg, "and it's overall nice to be finally back on track. It was an important first day with the car: we started with a solid baseline and put in some good laps throughout all morning, going through the programme we had set for ourselves. Between the two sessions, we gathered a useful amount of data about how the car behaves, which the team will be working on overnight. Now, it's about learning more over the next few days, making the most of our track time."

"My first official day with the C45 has been quite an interesting experience," added Bortoleto. "We focused on some aero runs throughout the session, testing different aspects and getting some useful mileage. Towards the end, we had some fresh sets of tyres to push a little and have some fun. Overall, I'm quite happy with what we achieved today. After the first day, there is always a lot to learn and improve. It's just the beginning, and I am eager to be back in the car tomorrow."

"It was largely a good day," said Haas boss, Ayao Komatsu, "we completed our entire program, did what we needed to do and found a couple of answers we needed as well. Both drivers had a very good day getting in lots of laps. We've had a lot of change in race team personnel, but I felt communication and teamwork across the team was very good. So, a positive start to pre-season testing from us."

"That's day one completed," added Bearman, "and I'm very happy to be back with the team and back in the car. It's my first time on track in Bahrain and it's a new beast in Formula 1, so it's very nice. We got through the entire run plan as we wanted to, and the results were as expected - as we've been learning about the car and its characteristics. I'm now looking forward to testing the limits over the next two days."

"It was a very solid day," said Ocon, "and on both mine and Ollie's side there's been a lot of learning that happened today as it's the first time we've experienced the car in good condition. It's been a good day as we completed the run program. We've focused on longer-run performance - that was clear - and it was very interesting. We've got a lot of data gathered, and I go again tomorrow morning."

Check out our gallery from Bahrain, here.