F1 2026 Bahrain pre-season test: Lando Norris edges Max Verstappen on day one

McLaren trumped Red Bull in terms of pace on the first day of running, but Verstappen completed more laps than any other driver

McLaren's Lando Norris opened the book on the first day of official Formula 1 pre-season testing by going 0.129s faster than Max Verstappen, although the Red Bull driver completed more laps than McLaren managed all day.

Oscar Piastri set a best time of 1m35.602s over 54 laps in the morning, before Norris took over the MCL40 and set the fastest time of the day – 1m34.669s – in the afternoon while adding 58 laps to the car's total. That is one more than a complete race distance at the Bahrain International Circuit.

As was expected given the relative immaturity of the cars, the ‘green' track surface, gusting winds, and the fact that many drivers were circulating laden with aerodynamic measuring equipment, early laptimes offered little to excite. As some drivers began to push, there were several off-track excursions at Turn 10, largely attributed to the tailwind but also a factor of varying approaches to braking and energy harvesting.

Verstappen was fastest of all in the morning session, clocking 1m35.433s – considerably off Piastri's 1m29.841 pole time from the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix. But what caught the eye – beyond Max being the first driver of the day to reach the 100-lap mark – was the Red Bull's apparent ability to deploy more electrical power than rivals over consecutive laps.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Ultimately, Verstappen reached the 136-lap mark, and his fastest of 1m34.798s – set during a seven-lap stint on soft tyres late in the afternoon – fell just 0.129s short of Norris.

Charles Leclerc's best time for Ferrari was 0.521s off Norris but he turned 80 laps in what was a productive day for the Scuderia. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton turned the day's seventh-fastest lap during the morning session while running 52 laps.

Esteban Ocon was the second busiest driver of the day, putting 115 laps on the Haas VF-26 and setting the fourth fastest time.

Mercedes, in the midst of a growing imbroglio over its power unit, flew under the radar as George Russell completed 56 laps in the morning with a fastest time that was 1.439s in arrears of Norris. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, running predominantly on the hard-compound Pirellis, was 2.960s off over 30 laps.

There was disappointment for Aston Martin as its AMR26 managed just 36 laps in total. Lance Stroll ran 33 tours in the morning session but parked up after just three more following the lunch break, when the team detected what it described as "a data anomaly" from the new Honda power unit. Stroll's fastest lap of the day was a 1m39.883s.

Williams mitigated the disappointment of missing the Barcelona shakedown entirely by completing an impressive number of laps during the day. Carlos Sainz ran 77 laps in total during the morning, cumulatively more than a race distance. Team-mate Alex Albon did 68 in the afternoon.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Of the teams that had chosen to introduce development steps already – or reveal concepts they had previously wanted to conceal, Audi was the most conspicuous. Its R26 emerged from the garages with an entirely different sidepod treatment than that used on the show car at launch - or the one that ran in the Barcelona ‘shakedown week'.

The car ran reliably in the morning as Gabriel Bortoleto put 49 laps on it, but then broke down with Nico Hulkenberg at the wheel just an hour into the afternoon session, bringing out the red flag. Hulkenberg returned to the track and eventually ran 73 laps. The only other stoppage of the day was induced by Franco Colapinto's Alpine stuttering to a halt on track in the morning after turning 17 laps, but the issue was eventually fixed and Colapinto brought its total to 28 laps before handing over to Pierre Gasly.

Cadillac also hit the track for the first time in its definitive two-tone livery as revealed during the Super Bowl half-time show at the weekend. Valtteri Bottas completed 49 laps in the morning before handing over to Sergio Perez, who did 58.

Arvid Lindblad, the only F1 rookie this season, completed 75 laps in the Racing Bulls VCARB 03 during the morning before it succumbed to a fluid leak.

F1 Bahrain pre-season test Day 1 results

	Driver	Team/Car/Engine	Lap time	Total Laps
1	Lando Norris	McLaren MCL40 / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m34.669s	58
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull RB22 / Red Bull Ford DM01	1m34.798s	136
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari SF-26 / Ferrari 067/6	1m35.190s	80
4	Esteban Ocon	Haas VF-26 / Ferrari 067/6	1m35.578s	115
5	Oscar Piastri	McLaren MCL40 / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m35.602s	54
6	George Russell	Mercedes F1 W17 E Performance / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m36.108s	56
7	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari SF-26 / Ferrari 067/6	1m36.433s	52
8	Pierre Gasly	Alpine A526 / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m36.765s	49
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi R26 / Audi AFR 26 Hybrid	1m36.861s	73
10	Alexander Albon	Williams FW48 / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m37.437s	68
11	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes F1 W17 E Performance / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m37.629s	30
12	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls VCARB 03 / Red Bull Ford DM01	1m37.945s	75
13	Carlos Sainz	Williams FW48 / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m38.221s	77
14	Sergio Perez	Cadillac ? / Ferrari 067/6	1m38.828s	58
15	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi R26 / Audi AFR 26 Hybrid	1m38.871s	49
16	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac ? / Ferrari 067/6	1m39.150s	49
17	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin AMR26 / Honda RA626H	1m39.883s	36
18	Franco Colapinto	Alpine A526 / Mercedes F1 M17 E Performance	1m40.330s	28