After a morning session with no visible big issues or red flags, the entire line-up for F1 Pre-Season testing was changed as all teams switched their drivers. This meant defending world champion Max Verstappen took his seat in the Red Bull RB21. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who ended up on top of the timesheets after the morning, was replaced by George Russell.
First hour
As most teams were still busy preparing the cars, the opening 20 minutes of the session were quiet on track. First out in the afternoon session, which surprisingly enough officially had a 10% chance of rain, was Isack Hadjar.
The Racing Bulls rookie started off with a practice start and was followed out on track by compatriot Esteban Ocon in the Haas. Ocon finishes just an installation lap while Hadjar does complete a timed lap. His first time was almost 5,5 seconds off the pace, which of course makes sense given the fact these are his first laps of the test.
Next out was Verstappen, shod with some C2 Pirelli’s, who immediately went for a little bit of a push lap. His first attempt was almost 2 seconds down to Antonelli’s leading time.
More cars were heading out on track, including Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Charles Leclerc. In the meantime McLaren was still busy on Lando Norris’ car behind some screens in pit lane. Both Verstappen and Gasly attack Antonelli’s time, but both come up just short.
The first real incident of the afternoon was a spin by Hadjar, but he could continue.
George Russell hit the track with just a few minutes to go in the first hour, followed by Carlos Sainz a little later. The Spaniard has his Williams FW47 donned with some bright red flow-viz paint. It makes a familiar sight for the former Ferrari driver.
Second hour
With Sainz racking up the laps, the only driver who still hasn’t been on track is Lando Norris. Last year’s runner up duly takes note and comes out shortly after the first hour has finished. He has some flow-viz on the car as well.
Norris doesn’t set a time however, and neither does Bortoleto. The radar shows a proper threat of rain hangs over the session. This possibly could hamper the team’s pre-season testing programs.
For now the track is still dry, and Russell proves that by going fastest with over 3 tenths of a second over his team mate. Gasly also bests Antonelli’s time, as a few drops do indeed come from the sky.
With the impact of the few raindrops being negligible the teams continue running their programs, but with cool temperatures and an overcast it is far from the typical Bahraini weather.
Verstappen goes back out again, but the Dutchman seems to struggle a bit with the car, as did Lawson in the morning.
At the back of the timing sheets it is Bortoleto and Norris who are yet to set a time, with the McLaren also being stationary for the majority of the afternoon so far. He goes out on track again at the moment that Leclerc goes to the top with 1:30.878, improving Russell’s time by 2 tenths.
Just before the hour expires Norris finally sets a time, putting him in third for the moment. This means only Bortoleto needs to set a time today.
Third hour
Four minutes into the hour there is a power outage in the paddock that brings out the red flag, right as Red Bull was working on Verstappen’s car. The moment was beautifully captured as the floodlights around the track all went off together.
A few lights came back on about half an hour later, but with not all the floodlights yet illuminated the red flag stays out.
Fourth hour
At the start of the final hour most of the floodlights are on, prompting the track’s safety car on the track to inspect it. Adding insult to injury, it does indeed start to rain. However the intensity is questionable and whether it will influence any remaining running remains to be seen.
With 50 minutes to go the track goes green again and pre-season testing continues. Gasly immediately goes out, followed by Norris, Hadjar, Bortoleto and Verstappen.
Sainz has a little moment at the end of the straight, as the track gets busier towards the end of the session.
With just half an hour to go Sainz notices a few drops of rain again, but it doesn’t seem to be of any influence. At the same time the organisation formally adds an additional hour of pre-season testing to the session. This of course as a consequence of the power outage earlier on the day.
Norris takes that as a sign to put the pedal to the metal, and goes to the top. He beats Leclerc’s time by 4 tenths.
The rain intensifies a bit, but for now the teams just keep running. Most even don’t have intermediates, as Bahrain usually does not see a lot of precipitation.
In the meantime a lot of changes are made to Verstappen’s Red Bull, keeping him off the track at the moment.
Fifth hour
Starting the final hour of the first day of pre-season testing Verstappen again heads out on the track, with a tiny bit of flow-viz on the floor. He goes straight to second place in his first lap on the C3-tyres, about 2.5 tenths behind Norris. A bit later Russell slots between them, a tenth quicker than Verstappen.
With about half an hour to go the track has just a few cars driving around. Most of them doing some long runs, getting the laps and data in.
Bortoleto has a moment of oversteer into turn 11, but other than a little detour nothing happens.
The last 20 minutes don’t really produce much excitement, other than McLaren lathering the car in flow-viz. The team apparently asked Norris to crawl around for some last-minute aero testing, as he is very slow around the track.
At the end of the day it is McLaren on top, but as always testing times do not say anything yet. No stoppages on track today, but a lengthy red flag due to a power outage gave the drivers some additional rest. Tomorrow testing continues in Bahrain, with some of the drivers covering the entire day of driving, with the green flag dropping at 08:00 CET.
