Lando Norris made headlines on the first day of Formula 1’s pre-season testing in Bahrain, which experienced a one-hour delay due to a power outage affecting the entire circuit.

To compensate for the disruption caused by the loss of power, which occurred two hours into the afternoon session, the run time was extended by one hour. This incident resulted in the floodlights and all electrical systems in the main facility—including garages and the media center—being rendered inoperative.

Upon the session’s restart, Norris took to the track and achieved a lap time of 1m30.430s, a record that remained unbeaten despite attempts from Max Verstappen and George Russell during the closing moments of the session.

Initially, Williams driver Alex Albon led the pack after the first hour, clocking a time of 1m32.862s during a period filled with installation laps and aerodynamic testing.

Shortly after the one-hour mark, Lewis Hamilton surged to the top of the leaderboard during his first official run for Ferrari. Following him, Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso also made brief appearances at the summit.

Lawson had an adventurous morning, spinning out at Turn 2 as he struggled with his Red Bull on the curbs, but he managed to recover without further issues.

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli led into the lunch break with a lap time of 1m31.428s, as all ten drivers who participated in the morning session exchanged places with their teammates for the afternoon round.

This switch enabled Russell to surpass Antonelli’s morning record by more than 0.3 seconds within an hour of the session’s reopening, indicating a pronounced improvement in the afternoon’s overall timings.

Russell’s performance was soon eclipsed by Charles Leclerc, who set a time of 1m30.878s just before a one-hour red flag.

Once the session resumed, Norris delivered a lap that was four-tenths quicker on the C3 tires, propelling him to the top of the leaderboard. The British driver completed 52 laps, finishing 0.157 seconds ahead of Russell, who amassed a total of 70 laps overall.

Verstappen, Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top five, all within a 0.6-second margin, with Sainz maintaining a lead of 0.4 seconds over sixth-placed Pierre Gasly. Antonelli, Lawson, Albon, and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten.

Esteban Ocon logged the highest number of laps in the afternoon session for Haas, tallying 88 laps and placing 19th overall. The American team seemed to prioritize longer runs, finishing with Ollie Bearman in 20th position.

Day 1 Results of the F1 Bahrain Pre-Season Test