[Other Sport] F1 2025

[Audax]

Right, we're up and running. Day 1 of pre-season testing complete.

1 Norris (McLaren) 1m30.430s
2 Russell (Mercedes) +0.157s
3 Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.244s
4 Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.448s
5 Sainz (Williams) +0.525s
6 Gasly (Alpine) +0.923s
7 Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.998s
8 Lawson (Red Bull) +1.130s
9 Albon (Williams) +1.143s
10 Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) +1.180s
11 Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +1.201s
12 Bortoleto (Sauber) +1.260s
13 Hamilton (Ferrari) +1.404s
14 Doohan (Alpine) +1.411s
15 Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.444s
16 Stroll (Astin Martin) +1.519s
17 Piastri (McLaren) +1.654s
18 Hulkenberg (Sauber) +1.739s
19 Ocon (Haas) +3.170s
20 Bearman (Haas) +5.092s

All of the teams split driving duties across both drivers for the day. Generally speaking, those who were in the cars for the second half of the day posted quicker times than those in the cars earlier in the day. The quickest time in the morning was set by Antonelli. Of course, it's only day 1 of testing and we have no idea what teams were doing in terms of their test plans - and we haven't seen any qually simulations yet. But I think there's a few tidbits to glean out of the day:

1) Reliability is exceptional across all the teams.
2) Haas can't really be that slow, can they? Suspect they've spent the entire day doing controlled speed testing and not pushed the car at all.
3) McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari remain the teams to chase.
4) Williams and Alpine taken a step forward?

I'll be keeping an eye on Red Bull over the next couple of days. The "RB21" they've used today looks an awful lot like (pretty much identical!) the RB20 that finished the season last year, despite Horner claiming that they've made revisions to almost the whole car. Are they using 2024 parts still and waiting to bolt on 2025 aero package, or are they genuinely going into the start of the 2025 season with a car that is essentially the same as their 2024 car?

 

[Audax]

Day 2 ... and so far, running is being limited due to light rain. It's too damp for slick tyres, but only 2 teams (Haas and Aston Martin) actually requested any wet weather tyres and so far only Haas - with Ocon - have actually ventured out on track using the Inters for a solitary sighting lap since the rain got heavy enough to warrant them.

 

[A1X]

Raining in Bahrain? Isn't that a sign of an impending apocalypse?

 

[Audax]

Day 2 times:

1 Sainz (Williams) 1m29.348s
2 Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.031s
3 Leclerc (FerrarI) +0.083s
4 Russell (Mercedes) +0.430s
5 Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.436s
6 Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.881s
7 Lawson (Red Bull) +0.904s
8 Doohan (Alpine) +1.020s
9 Gasly (Alpine) +1.082s
10 Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +1.327s
11 Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.352s
12 Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) +1.445s
13 Piastri (McLaren) +1.473s
14 Norris (McLaren) +1.534s
15 Bortoleto (Sauber) +1.709s
16 Hulkenberg (Sauber) +2.109s
17 Ocon (Haas) +3.723s
18 Bearman (Haas) +5.024s


Few things to note:

1. Haas are clearly doing all their running with high fuel levels.

2. The note yesterday about Red Bull and the car looking so similar to what they ended last year with ... apparently this is their 2025 car for the start of the season and we should not expect any significant changes. Verstappen says it feels better than last year's car, despite the minimal visible changes.

3. McLaren focussed on long runs today, and they looked competitive. Norris' run on the C2's was substantially quicker than the others. Norris has mentioned McLaren are working on trying to address some instability at the rear of the car, but it doesn't sound like it's anything major.

4. Antonelli had an eye-catching run on the C1 compound in the Mercedes - faster and longer than equivalent runs by Norris and Leclerc. Russell has mentioned the new Mercedes appears to have resolved the issues they had last year with inconsistent performance. But it's worth caveating that with the fact that Bahrain is unusually cold for these test days, and last year's Mercedes was also excellent in colder conditions...

5. Alpine and Williams look strong amongst the midfield teams. Sauber's car apparently doesn't look great on track (both from a livery perspective and from how it handles). Haas impossible to tell due to only doing high fuel runs.