TESTING TIMES

There were lots of laps but not much excitement as Formula One testing for season 2025 began in Bahrain.

The appearance of Lewis Hamilton in his new Ferrari was the highlight of the first day, with all 10 teams running a single car and splitting laps between their two drivers and running into the darkness.

The quickest time of the day was set by Lando Norris, running in the afternoon for McLaren, at 1 minute 30.430 seconds, 0.157 ahead of second-placed George Russell, who also drove for Mercedes-AMG in the afternoon.

For perspective, Max Verstappen set pole position for last year's Bahrain Grand Prix at 1:29.179.

Jack Doohan was 14th fastest at 1:31.841, compared with 1:31.353 for his Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly, with Oscar Piastri on 1:32.084 for 17th-fastest time at McLaren.

Not surprisingly, Hamilton was able to put the whole day – the first of three in Bahrain before teams leave for the season opener at Albert Park – into perspective.

"It’s too early to really understand performance, but everything feels good and as a team we’re working on the best way to optimise each run," Hamilton said after his first laps in the SF-25.