Norris bests Verstappen on first day of winter testing in Bahrain
Lando Norris topped the first day of the Bahrain test, finishing just ahead of Max Verstappen.
Norris ahead of Verstappen on Day 1
After Oscar Piastri drove for McLaren during the morning, the defending world champion took over for the afternoon session. The Briton set the fastest lap time of the day with a 1:34.669. He achieved this time using the soft tyres.
Max Verstappen also improved his quickest lap time from the morning session. The Red Bull Racing driver finished just 0.13 seconds behind the Briton. Charles Leclerc completed the top three, but he was around half a second behind Norris.
There was also a single red flag during the second four hours of the day, caused by Nico Hulkenberg's Audi. The issue remains to be known, but the German driver could return to completing laps later on.
Two teams run into issues on Day 1 in Bahrain
Aston Martin and Lance Stroll could only do 36 laps today. The team detected a data anomaly this afternoon, after completing the morning session. As a result, precautionary checks were carried out on the power unit to understand the issue.
GPblog has also learned that a fluid leak prevented Racing Bulls and Arvid Lindblad from running more laps during the afternoon.
Full results - Day 1 of the Bahrain Test
| Position | Driver | Lap time | Lap count |
| P1 | Lando Norris (McLaren) | 1:34.669 | 58 |
| P2 | Max Verstappen (Red Bull) | 1:34.798 | 136 |
| P3 | Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) | 1:35.190 | 80 |
| P4 | Esteban Ocon (Haas) | 1:35.578 | 115 |
| P5 | Oscar Piastri (McLaren) | 1:35.602 | 54 |
| P6 | George Russell (Mercedes) | 1:36.108 | 56 |
| P7 | Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) | 1:36.433 | 52 |
| P8 | Pierre Gasly (Alpine) | 1:36.769 | 49 |
| P9 | Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) | 1:36.861 | 73 |
| P10 | Alexander Albon (Williams) | 1:37.437 | 68 |
| P11 | Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) | 1:37.629 | 30 |
| P12 | Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) | 1:37.945 | 75 |
| P13 | Carlos Sainz (Williams) | 1:38.221 | 77 |
| P14 | Sergio Perez (Cadillac) | 1:38.828 | 58 |
| P15 | Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) | 1:38.871 | 49 |
| P16 | Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) | 1:39.150 | 49 |
| P17 | Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) | 1:39.883 | 36 |
| P18 | Franco Colapinto (Alpine) | 1:40.330 | 28 |
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