Norris sets fastest time on first day of 2026 F1 testing in Bahrain

Lando Norris was the fastest on the first day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit with a time of 1:34.669. He needed 58 laps in the McLaren MCL40 to set that time during the afternoon session, beating Max Verstappen by 0.129 seconds.

Verstappen accumulated 136 laps in the Red Bull RB22 throughout the day, more than double the distance of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc finished third with Ferrari, half a second off Norris's time, completing 79 laps in the afternoon. Lewis Hamilton had run 52 laps in the morning, so Ferrari totaled 131 laps without any visible issues with the SF-26, which debuts the new power units.

Oscar Piastri drove the McLaren in the first session and ended up fifth on the timesheet, nine-tenths behind his teammate. Together, both drivers completed 112 laps, a decent mileage for the debut of the new systems which include active aerodynamics and engines with a 50:50 split between thermal and electrical components.

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Esteban Ocon spent the entire day in the Haas VF-26 and reached 115 laps, finishing fourth on the times. He was one of only two drivers to exceed 100 individual laps, demonstrating that the car ran without issues on its first track outing. George Russell placed the Mercedes W17 sixth with 56 laps in the morning, but Kimi Antonelli barely completed an installation lap in the afternoon because the team detected something needing attention back in the garage.

Williams finally ran the FW48 in Bahrain and accumulated solid mileage. Carlos Sainz completed 77 laps in the first session, the highest total of any driver in the morning. Alex Albon added 68 laps in the afternoon, meaning Williams reached 145 total laps and recovered some of the ground lost after skipping the Barcelona shakedown due to manufacturing delays.

Franco Colapinto stopped on track with the Alpine A526 during the morning and caused a red flag. He completed just 28 laps throughout the day, the lowest mileage of any driver. Pierre Gasly ran 49 laps in the afternoon, but Alpine failed to surpass 77 combined laps on their debut with the Mercedes engine, falling short of expectations to validate the new power unit package.

Nico Hulkenberg also stopped with the Audi R26 at the end of the afternoon, although he managed to restart the car and return to the pits without external assistance. Gabriel Bortoleto had completed 49 laps in the morning, so Audi totaled 122 laps in its first appearance as a constructor in the category.

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Cadillac split the program between Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez, with 49 and 58 laps respectively. The new team completed 107 total laps in its official Formula 1 debut. Lance Stroll only ran 36 laps in the Aston Martin AMR27, the lowest mileage among those who were on track the entire day. Fernando Alonso, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, and Ollie Bearman will make their debuts on the second day on Thursday.

The teams will review the data collected overnight to adjust configurations. The timesheets from the first day of testing do not reflect the true pace of each car because each team is operating with different fuel loads, engine modes, and specific objectives in their programs.

Results - Day 1 Bahrain Pre-Season Testing 2026