Bahrain Testing 3-day Breakdown – By Joe Murphy
As the first day of testing in 2025 came to a close, there was a clear winner up front.
The McLaren of Lando Norris topped the leaderboard when the days running ended, on what turned out to be a good day for the men in orange. It is important to note that the running of these cars is still at a very early stage and tweaks to the set up could change the current order no end.
Still, in a year where Lando Norris hopes to win the World Championship, it’s a promising start to his attempt to stop the Max Verstappen dominance the sport has seen since the Dutchman won his first World Title in 2021.
On day two, it was Lewis Hamilton in his new car for the first week, who set the pace for much of the day. The British driver appearing to settle in red very well, taking to his new car like a duck to water. For now at least. However, it was the man who’s seat he took, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who topped the charts by the end of the day.
On day three, Oliver Bearman seemed to lose part of his engine cover whilst on the track itself in a day where that was pretty much the only drama. In terms if pace, it was the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc who impressed by spending time on top of the charts, whilst Max Verstappen struggled to keep up with the car in red. In fact, rookies Doohan and Antonelli spent a large portion of the day ahead of the reigning world champion. However, the man going for his fifth championship in a row eventually top of the charts. He went purple late on after a bizarre red flag was shown for a bus somehow ending UK on the track in Bahrain. The FIA are yet to comment on the issue but questions are sure to be raised.
Pierre Gasly was also impressive for Alpine, overtaking Verstappen as P1, with a silver arrow just behind as George Russell showed that Mercedes aren’t far off the pace with his car in second. That was, until the British driver managed to put a lap time in that surpassed that of the Frenchman. As much as Verstappen tried to beat that time, he couldn’t. Elsewhere, Estaban Ocon also got his Haas into the top ten. Moreover, Lewis Hamilton continued to impress, showing signs of a resurgence since his move to the Italian outfit.
Again, worth a reminder that media outlets love to get carried away with such results. This is a learning curve and about drivers getting to grips with a car that is sure to change before the lights go out in Australia in a few weeks time.
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