Norris Leads Pre-Season F1 Testing Despite Power Cut Drama in Bahrain
A power outage interrupted the first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, with McLaren's Lando Norris ultimately setting the fastest time of 1m30.430s on the C3 tire compound.
McLaren F1 car on racetrack
The session was delayed for over an hour due to an external substation failure that affected the circuit's power and lighting systems. Testing was extended by an hour to compensate for the lost time.
George Russell finished second (+0.157s) for Mercedes, while defending champion Max Verstappen placed third (+0.25s) for Red Bull after completing 74 laps in the afternoon session.
Key highlights from day one:
- Charles Leclerc finished fourth in Ferrari's new car featuring updated front suspension and longer wheelbase
- Lewis Hamilton completed 70 laps in the morning session for Ferrari, showing some instability in high-speed corners
- Carlos Sainz impressed at Williams, finishing just 0.077s behind former teammate Leclerc
- Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli led the morning session before finishing seventh overall
- Nine out of ten teams completed over 100 laps despite driver changes at lunch
- Haas completed the most laps (160) but ran consistently slower times, likely focusing on fuel load testing
F1 Melbourne Practice 3 timing results
The testing demonstrated strong reliability across most teams, with Aston Martin being the only exception, completing just 88 laps between Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Most cars showed evolutionary designs compared to last year, as teams prepare for upcoming regulation changes.
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