Formula 1 is officially back. Lando Norris closed on First day of testing in Bahrain in command, after that Kimi Antonelli had set the best time in the round of morning ahead of Liam Lawson's Red Bull. Ferrari fourth with Leclerc and 13th with Hamilton.
Kimi Antonelli leads in the morning, fifth place for Hamilton
In the morning session, the Italian Mercedes driver (on his Formula 1 debut) recorded the best time with a 1:31:428 and medium tyre. Liam Lawson, despite a half spin, finished behind him, ahead of the Williams of Albon and the Racing Bulls of tsunoda.
Fifth position for the new Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, four tenths slower than the driver who replaced him at Mercedes. The seven-time world champion preceded Jack Doohan about Alpine and Fernando Alonso on Aston Martin. Closing the top 10, Piastres, Hulkenberg e Bearman. just Alonso and Stroll were the drivers with the fewest laps under their belt of the whole day: 46 and 42 respectively, decidedly less than Ocon's 88 (today's record).
Norris on top at the end of the day, blackout on the circuit
In the afternoon, in a session characterized by a red flag caused by a blackout in the circuit, Lando Norris brought McLaren back to the top, stopping the clock on1:30.430. Due to the red flag, the session was extended by one hour to make up for lost time: towards the end of the day a few drops of rain even appeared.
The podium of the day was completed by Russell e Verstappen before Leclerc, Sainz e gasly. These are the first 6, before finding the morning leader Antonelli in seventh place. The other riders who took to the track in the afternoon stopped in the second half of the standings: Hadjar, 11th, was the first to spin in the afternoon (soon joined by others, including champion Verstappen). They follow Bortoleto (12th), Stroll (16th) and Or with (19th position).
No big surprises or incidents on the first day of testing, where the standings are still to be taken with a pinch of salt, given the different strategies of the various teams. See you tomorrow morning at 8:00 for the start of the second day.
