Reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen led the season’s first day of testing by over one second in a dominant display ahead of next week’s opener.
Verstappen finished 1.14 seconds clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris with the Red Bull 1.15 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly completed the top five on the first day.
The fastest Mercedes was 12th with Lewis Hamilton not setting a time on Tuesday.
The Bahrain testing comes 10 days before the season opener at the same track with Verstappen looking for a fourth title.
F1 lap times – day one
- 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – one minute 31.344 seconds
- 2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1:32.484
- 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 1:32.584
- 4. Daniel Ricciardo (RB) – 1:32.599
- 5. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 1:32.805
- 6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 1:33.007
- 7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 1:33.247
- 8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 1:33.385
- 9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:33.658
- 10. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) -1:33.871
- 11. Logan Sargeant (Williams) – 1:33.882
- 12. George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:34.109
- 13. Yuki Tsunoda (RB) – 1:34.136
- 14. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) – 1:34.431
- 15. Alex Albon (Williams) – 1:34.587
- 16. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 134.677
- 17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 1:35.692
- 18. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) – 1:35.906
The season
| February 29 – March 2 | Bahrain | Sakhir |
| March 7-9 | Saudi Arabia | Jeddah |
| March 22-24 | Australia | Melbourne |
| April 5-7 | Japan | Suzuka |
| April 19-21 | China | Shanghai |
| May 3-5 | Miami | Miami |
| May 17-19 | Emilia Romagna | Imola |
| May 24-26 | Monaco | Monaco |
| June 7-9 | Canada | Montreal |
| June 21-23 | Spain | Barcelona |
| June 28-30 | Austria | Spielberg |
| July 5-7 | United Kingdom | Silverstone |
| July 19-21 | Hungary | Budapest |
| July 26-28 | Belgium | Spa |
| August 23-25 | Netherlands | Zandvoort |
| August 30 – September 1 | Italy | Monza |
| September 13-15 | Azerbaijan | Baku |
| September 20-22 | Singapore | Singapore |
| October 18-20 | USA | Austin |
| October 25-27 | Mexico | Mexico City |
| November 1-3 | Brazil | Sao Paulo |
| November 21-23 | Las Vegas | Las Vegas |
| November 29 – December 1 | Qatar | Lusail |
| December 6-8 | Abu Dhabi | Yas Marina |
