F1 Pre-season Testing, Bahrain Feb 26-28, 2025

Thank you!

I agree about C6 possibly being a qualifying tire only. Of course it's likely to show up at Monaco given its such a slow circuit with no high speed corners. Mexico maybe, but I think it would burn up quick.

 

I saw this on FB, could be fake/AI

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I can see some teams using it to qualify at some circuits, but even if they do, they don’t have to start the race on it. So possibly, but rare.

And since there is no longer a bonus point for fastest lap, I don’t see anyone bothering with it.

 

Good grief...I took one look at the AM, and it's longer than a full sized pick up truck...everything a race car shouldn't be. You'd have to go down to Formula 4 in size to start over. Dump hybrid and DRS and energy recovery...get back to basics...a motor, a car, and a driver...open practice, no simulators, 3 grades of tires plus intermediates and full wets...for the whole season. Lap times are just that, lap times...and that isn't the same as wheel to wheel racing like we saw in the 1980s.

 

Yep, the same footprint as a Silverado crew cab pickup - about 1.5 metres longer than Lauda's 312T!

 

Live test coverage on BBC F1 - Text, pics and commentary as its going on.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/cdelykx31wdt

SKY F1 live feed/data here -

https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/13316343/f1-testing-live-updates-results-stream-highlights-as-lewis-hamilton-makes-ferrari-debut-in-bahrain

 

Testing - Day 1 - AM / Session 1 - timesheet


1) Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:31.428, 78 laps

2) Liam Lawson, Red Bull, 1:31.560, 58 laps

3) Alex Albon, Williams 1:31.573, 63 laps

4) Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls, 1:31.610, 78 laps

5) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:31.834, 70 laps

6) Jack Doohan, Alpine 1:31.841, 68 laps

7) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:31.874, 46 laps

8) Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:32.084, 66 laps

9) Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:32.169, 55 laps

10) Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:35.522, 72 laps

Everyone set fastest times on medium tyres

 

https://f1-dash.com/dashboard


Watching lap times so far shows many cars looking really good on heavier fuel load runs. This will go down to what team/car is fastest at the most number of tracks this season because many will absolutely be capable of winning races.

Watch for Williams to surprise a bit here and there too

 

Odd that Haas is miles behind the others, who in sharp contrast are quite tightly grouped. I hope they don't have a dog on their hands.
No need to state the obvious, yes it's early days.

 

Lando fastest in afternoon and within .1 of Charles who had best time of 2024 testing. This will be interesting!!

 

Day one - final timesheet
1) Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:30.430, 52 laps

2) George Russell, Mercedes, 1:30.587, 70 laps

3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:30.674, 74 laps

4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:30.878, 71 laps

5) Carlos Sainz, Williams, 1:30.955, 68 laps

6) Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:31.353, 72 laps

7) Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:31.428, 78 laps

8) Liam Lawson, Red Bull, 1:31.560, 58 laps

9) Alex Albon, Williams 1:31.573, 63 laps

10) Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls, 1:31.610, 78 laps

11) Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 1:31.631, 76 laps

12) Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, 1:31.690, 59 laps

13) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:31.834, 70 laps

14) Jack Doohan, Alpine 1:31.841, 68 laps

15) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:31.874, 46 laps

16) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:31.949, 42 laps

17) Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:32.084, 66 laps

18) Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:32.169, 55 laps

19) Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:33.600, 88 laps

20) Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:35.522, 72 laps

Drivers participating in afternoon session in bold

 

Always the tyres lol

Russell: Pirelli's new F1 tyres for 2026 are "quite a step worse"

 

That McLaren has some fierce long run pace.

 

If you have F1TV app, the entire sessions are available for viewing.

 

Interesting to see Sainz' pace. Williams was looking decent at the end of 24

 

Full morning session here for those that have the time to watch -

 

Looking at the time-sheet, yes, Sainz is going to elevate Williams greatly. Albon is okay, but there is a considerable gap from him to Sainz. Also, I was not expecting Haas to be at the bottom, even slower than Sauber? I want to see what they say from their first outing.

 

Hard to make much of teammate comparisons - Albon did the morning session with a greener track. Fastest morning session time on the combined list is Antonelli in 7th.

 

What do we take away from this?

 

That CS may be faster than CL in a Williams!

 

Via The Race.com below about Ferrari.

Full report here - https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hughes-f1-2025-testing-day-one/

Track temperatures varied between just 18-27°C. Kimi Antonelli had headed the morning times with a single low-fuel lap after an extensive build up of heavy fuel load work.

--Charles Leclerc's fourth-fastest time for Ferrari at around 0.4s off was probably not representative, as it was set very early in the afternoon session. Ferrari also appeared to be running him much heavier than the others in the longer runs.

--Lewis Hamilton had driven the car in the morning (when the track was much slower), with a lot of attention being given to measuring the flex of the new front wing. He appeared confident in the car and it showed a prodigious straightline performance. It was a promising beginning.

 

Weird that Mclaren had that much floviz on the car. Some reporting Lando was fighting the car at Turn 4 and 10. Somethin isn't correlating but people are saying they have really good long run pace so who know

 

The Race offers this analysis from track-side. Early day in testing so tomorrow might be more definitive in terms of car sorting/performance.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/every-2025-f1-car-trackside-verdict-edd-straw/

 

Red Bull finally joining the flexy front wing club properly

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McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes have shown strong consistency over long runs, but Ferrari is just warming up. While they may not be at full pace yet, there is plenty of potential to unlock as testing continues. Expect improvements as the team fine-tunes their setup!