F1 Testing: Ferrari fastest , Mercedes & Red Bull Suffer Mechanical Issues

2025 F1 world champion Lando Norris was second quickest in the McLaren. The Briton topped the timesheets on the first day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit. However, the Ferrari driver went quicker, with a time of 1:34.273 seconds during the morning session.

Both Ferrari and McLaren completed the second day of testing without any issues. However, the same cannot be said for Mercedes and Red Bull.

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Mercedes and Red Bull Hampered by Problems

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had only three laps under his belt before his car suffered a power unit issue. “That wasn’t ideal after losing several hours of track time yesterday afternoon, too. Whilst it is a setback, this is exactly what testing is about,” the 19-year-old said.

Red Bull’s new signing, Isack Hadjar, covered the 5.412km circuit once before his stint was curtailed by a hydraulic issue.

Both teams managed to sort out their particular issues, and Mercedes’ George Russell drove 54 laps in the W17 to finish fourth fastest, replacing his younger teammate. Hadjar had another opportunity to get track time and drove a solid 87 laps. “We managed to complete several of our programmes in a short timeframe, so it’s reassuring to know that the morning disruption hasn’t affected our overall plan,” the Frenchman said.

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Cadillac Getting to Grips with F1

The 11th team in F1 saw their drivers cause two of three red flags in Thursday’s running. Mexican driver Sergio Perez stopped on track in the morning session. Valtteri Bottas caused another red flag when the car’s mirror fell off during the afternoon session.

Aston Martin brought up the rear of the field in testing on Thursday with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso close to four seconds off the pace of Leclerc.

It led the Spaniard’s teammate, Lance Stroll, to utter an ominous quote: “I mean, right now we look like we’re four seconds off the top teams, four and a half seconds.

“ impossible to know what fuel loads and everything people are running, but, yeah, now we need to try and find four seconds of performance, so we’ll see.”

The teams will begin another three-day test in Bahrain from February 18 to 20, before the season kicks off Down Under with the Australian Grand Prix from March 6 to 8 in Melbourne.

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