Russell Tops Bahrain Test – Mercedes’ George Russell ended the final day of Formula 1’s pre-season test on top of the time-sheets, pipping reigning world champion Max Verstappen by 0.021 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit.
After Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was quickest in the morning’s final running, as most teams swapped their drivers over for the afternoon with the exception of Oracle Red Bull Racing and Atlassian Williams Racing, with Verstappen and Alexander Albon remaining behind the wheel of their respective outfits.
Whilst the later session gets off to a slower start as the teams continue to prepare their car for the other driver to hop in the car, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team wasted no time and emerged on track first with Esteban Ocon following a difficult morning for the Kannapolis-Banbury squad, which saw a piece of the engine cover aboard their VF-25 racer fly off.
BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly set the pace early, before Red Bull’s Verstappen – who appeared to be on a string of short runs – disposed of the Frenchman’s spot at the head of the timing boards, the four-time world champion going fastest with a 1:29.844 effort.
As the proceedings headed into it’s final hour-and-a-half, it was a change at Aston Martin. After missing the morning session due to not feeling 100%, Lance Stroll initially returned to pilot the Mercedes-powered AMR25 entry in the afternoon completing 34 laps, but the Canadian handed over the car to Fernando Alonso due to still not feeling well.
This lead to the Silverstone based-outfit to rapidly prepare the AMR25 for Alonso, something they were able to do in enough time for the double world champion to get out on circuit for the last hour under the lights.
Further movements on the time-sheets occurred – with Albon going quickest on the C4 medium compounds during a qualifying simulation run – before Verstappen reclaimed the P1 slot, pushing a 1:29.566 on the C3 tyre.
Despite several drivers having moments in the final hour on track – with both Ocon and Verstappen bringing out yellows due to suffering spins – the latter’s effort appeared to remain unbeaten.
However, it was Russell in the Silver Arrow who caught everyone by surprise by planting a 1:29.545 to top the time-sheets pipping Verstappen by a slim 0.021 seconds, whilst Albon completed the top three for Williams and the second most laps with 134.
“We’ve had a productive three days here at pre-season testing in Bahrain,” explained Russell reflecting on pre-season testing as a whole. “The team at Brackley, Brixworth, and here trackside have done a great job to have us ready for the test and rack up a significant amount of mileage. We’ve had a seamless three days, and the car is running well. It is no surprise to see some of our competitors, particularly McLaren, looking strong. We’ve compiled significant data and knowledge which gives the opportunity to find further improvements ahead of Melbourne. Kimi and I will be in the factory next week, driving on the simulator, and everyone will be pushing flat out to ensure we bring our best to Australia. I can’t wait to get started!” Russell concluded. Credit to Mercedes for the quote.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fourth overall completing 84 tours and in-front of Alpine’s Gasly who took fifth whilst Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton was sixth in the order after clocking up 47 laps in the SF-25.
“Overall, it’s been a great few days and we’ve made some strong progress as a team,” Hamilton said after completing the final day of running. “We had to finish a little earlier than planned today, and the weather has been hard to predict all week, but that’s how testing works sometimes, and we’ve managed to gather a lot of good information to build on before the season starts. The whole team has done an incredible job, and I’m so excited to get to the first race in Melbourne. I can’t wait to go racing with them.” Hamilton concluded, credit to Ferrari for the quote.
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Yuki Tsunoda followed in seventh place on the time-sheets completing 87 tours of the Bahrain International Circuit.
“Testing went fairly smooth,” explained Tsunoda after his final day of running. “We didn’t exactly follow our run programme as there were some issues with the track, but we responded well to them. I felt the car has made a good step forward compared to last year, so I’m happy with it so far. The balance has improved, and especially the front felt strong. We still have to find more with the rear, but it’s moving in the right direction. I completed many laps over the last couple of days and it was a good experience that allowed us to collect good data and help find the limit of the car. Looking at the timesheet, we’re not last, but it’s difficult to know where we are compared to the rest of the field, so I’m excited to start racing again next week.” Tsunoda concluded, credit to Racing Bulls for the quote.
Haas’s Ocon placed eighth in the classification, completing the most tours of the Bahrain International Circuit with 182 laps as Ferrari’s Leclerc and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top ten as both drivers completed 66 and 61 tours respectively.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was outside the top ten in 11th on the timing boards clocking up a Bahrain Grand Prix race distance of 57 laps and in-front of Alpine’s Jack Doohan who took 12th whilst Aston Martin’s Stroll who ended his short stint 13th.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg followed in 14th running 69 tours of the Bahrain International Circuit and ahead of Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar who placed 15th in the order and racked up 76 laps of mileage.
Rookie drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman brought up the rear for Sauber and MoneyGram Haas F1 Team respectively.
With 2025 pre-season testing all in the books, the focus of the F1 circus now turns to the season-opening Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025 from Friday March 14-Sunday March 16.
You can catch up on the highlights of final day’s running here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPzPdQPBEkk
@Carlossainz55 quickest on second day of #BahrainF1 Test. #F1 #F1Testing
@LandoNorris sets pace on day one of Bahrain test. #F1 #F1IsBack