Lando Norris leads twice red-flagged opening day of first 2026 Bahrain F1 test
Lando Norris was fastest on the opening day of the 2026 Bahrain F1 test
Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris ended day one of the first 2026 Bahrain pre-season test fastest for McLaren.
Though all but Williams had track time with their new cars last month at Barcelona, Wednesday marked the opening day of the first official test of the 2026 pre-season.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen led the way in the first four-hour session, before McLaren and Lando Norris took over the afternoon.
Norris bested Verstappen’s benchmark with just over an hour remaining, setting a 1m34.669s on the C2 Pirelli tyre.
That proved to be the defining lap of the day, as Norris went unchallenged through to the chequered flag.
The opening day of running was interrupted by two short red flags.
The first came in the opening session, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto coming to a stop. In the afternoon, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg brought a second stoppage.
That proved a brief red flag period, however, as the Audi driver was able to get his car going again and return to pitlane.
Verstappen held onto second spot with a 1m34.789s, as he put the most mileage of anyone on their car today.
The four-time world champion completed 135 laps, further cementing the strong reliability of Red Bull’s new engine designed in partnership with Ford.
Charles Leclerc completed the top three for Ferrari with a 1m35.190s, ahead of the Haas of Esteban Ocon and the second of the McLaren’s of Oscar Piastri.
Piastri drove McLaren’s new car in the first session, before handing over to Norris for the afternoon.
Mercedes was sixth with George Russell, though it encountered technical issues with the car in the afternoon, which limited Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s mileage.
The Italian, entering his second season in F1, was 11th overall after just 29 laps.
Lewis Hamilton, who was critical of the 2026 cars on Wednesday, was seventh for Ferrari ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Audi’s Hulkenberg and Williams’ Alex Albon.
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad was forced to park up early in the afternoon after 75 laps due to a technical issue.
He headed Carlos Sainz in the Williams, Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and the sister Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was limited in his running due to an issue. He was 17th ahead of Colapinto and behind Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac).
Isack Hadjar, Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman did not take part in Wednesday’s running.
In this article
