McLaren's Norris quickest on opening day of testing

4 hours ago 3

McLaren's Lando Norris topped the fastest thigh times from Mercedes' George Russell connected the archetypal time of Formula 1 pre-season testing.

Norris was 0.157 seconds quicker than Russell astatine Bahrain's Sakhir circuit, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen 3rd and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth.

The six fastest drivers acceptable their champion times successful the league that ran from the day into the evening.

Leclerc's caller team-mate Lewis Hamilton ran successful the greeting league and ended the time 12th fastest.

Headline thigh times successful pre-season investigating are notoriously unreliable indicators of existent competitiveness, arsenic determination are truthful galore factors affecting show that teams bash not reveal, specified arsenic substance loads and motor powerfulness modes.

The league was held successful unusually chill conditions successful the Gulf state, with aerial temperatures astir 15C.

Russell said helium was encouraged by the show of the Mercedes, aft 3 seasons erstwhile the squad knew from investigating that they were facing a pugnacious clip successful the months ahead.

Russell said: "The car is performing well. We've got to beryllium cautious due to the fact that successful Bahrain it's usually 20C hotter.

"This is the champion it has ever felt astir Bahrain but I'm definite it's the aforesaid for each testees.

"I americium enjoying it. I had confidence, the long-run gait looked each right.

"We are not going to get carried distant with ourselves, but truthful acold truthful good. We've had immoderate tests present wherever it did not spell well, but truthful acold it is silky smooth."

Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri, who drove successful the greeting league and was 15th connected the clip sheets, said: "The car is feeling beauteous good, conscionable trying to get [it] into a spot of a amended window.

"I deliberation we're successful OK shape. A fewer teams looking beauteous bully aboriginal on. [It's] aboriginal doors but we're beauteous happy.

"We're doing a bully occupation of focusing connected ourselves and getting immoderate bully information. It's already looking precise adjacent truthful I deliberation we're successful for a precise breathtaking twelvemonth successful F1."

Last year, McLaren won the constructors' title for the archetypal clip since 1998, portion Norris finished 2nd to Verstappen successful the drivers' rubric chase.

Norris and McLaren person acceptable themselves the people of starting the play successful competitory shape and mounting a season-long rubric challenge, aft Verstappen's aboriginal dominance saw him found an insurmountable pb successful 2024.

Hamilton and Verstappen did not talk to the media connected Wednesday.

Verstappen's caller team-mate Liam Lawson was the lone operator to afloat suffer power of his car - the New Zealander had a rotation astatine Turn Two successful the greeting session.

A powerfulness outage successful the mediate of the day league led to an hour's delay, and the extremity of moving was extended by an hr to compensate.

1. Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 1:30.430

2. George Russell (GB) Mercedes 1:30.587

3. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:30.674

4. Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:30.878

5. Carlos Sainz (Spa) Williams 1:31.388

6. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:31.353

7. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes 1:31.428

8. Liam Lawson (NZ) Red Bull 1:31.560

9. Alex Albon (Tha) Williams 1:31.573 *

10. Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Racing Bulls 1:31.610

11. Isack Hadjar (Fra) Racing Bulls 1:31.631

12. Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari 1:31.834