Bahrain pre-season tests: 2025 F1 world championship officially begins – LIVE morning Day 1. The 2025 World Championship officially begins with the F1 pre-season tests.

The wait is over, and after the car presentations, the teams head to the track to get a better understanding of the cars that will compete in the 2025 championship. Three intense days of testing will feature a lot of on-track activity, focusing on setups and new features to add to the cars. 24 hours of testing will allow rookies to familiarize themselves with the operational procedures of the cars. There are also several driver changes, giving them a chance to understand and get to know the new cars and the teams. Follow along with us in our live updates as we cover the first four hours of the 2025 F1 pre-season tests taking place in Bahrain.

With 24 hours of testing scheduled over these three days of activity, the teams will have the opportunity to get to know the cars better and start identifying areas to work on. The Bahrain track is ideal for this kind of work, as it features a variety of curves and straights, with speeds exceeding 300 km/h. The track also highlights the qualities of a car that is gentle on its tires. This is because the surface at the Bahrain circuit, located near Manama, has high granularity and consequent abrasiveness.

The work will continue during the hotter hours and into the evening when the most important sessions of the race weekend will take place. A major unknown factor is the wind, which has been strong over the last few days, bringing sand onto the track and racing line. This is an extremely impactful factor for the cars’ performance, as they will be driving on a very slippery and dirty circuit.

There will be many new faces on the track for the 2025 season, with numerous driver changes. The most notable is Hamilton, who is officially a Ferrari driver this year, with seven-time champion replaced by young Italian talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli driving the Mercedes W16.

The challenge heats up between the teams on the grid, with McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes expected to fight for the top positions. Action will also heat up in the midfield with potential surprises from other teams throughout the championship.

The first morning of testing in Bahrain ended without red flags, crashes, or any significant technical issues to report. Liam Lawson was involved in a pendulum spin at the exit of Turn 2 but managed to avoid hitting the barriers.

12:05 – Below is the summary at the end of the first morning of testing.

1) Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:31.428, 78 laps

2) Liam Lawson, Red Bull, 1:31.560, 58 laps

3) Alex Albon, Williams 1:31.573, 63 laps

4) Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls, 1:31.610, 78 laps

5) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:31.834, 70 laps

6) Jack Doohan, Alpine 1:31.841, 68 laps

7) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:31.874, 46 laps

8) Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:32.084, 66 laps

9) Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:32.169, 55 laps

10) Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:35.522, 72 laps

Everyone set fastest times on medium tyres

11:57 – Hamilton 36″7, Antonelli 34″4. They continue their work program on these loads and target times.

11:55 – The laps completed this morning:

Antonelli 74 laps
Lawson 58
Albon 59
Tsunoda 74
Hamilton 65
Doohan 64
Alonso 46
Piastri 59
Hulkenberg 55
Bearman 72

11:50 – We are nearing the end of this morning’s session with Antonelli being the main protagonist both in long runs and in fast laps.

11:45 – Alonso does not improve, finishing with a time of 32.0 (his best time is 31.8).

11:43 – Lawson returns to the pits, Alonso records his best sector time in T1.

11:40 – With 38 laps, Alonso is the driver with the fewest laps so far.

11:35 – The top seven are separated by just 446 thousandths of a second.

11:33 – Tsunoda moves up to fourth position, 182 thousandths behind Antonelli, both using C3 tires.

11:32 – New run for Hamilton, starting from 36.7.

11:25 – Antonelli continues alternating between 34.4 and 34.6 lap times, Lawson is second, with the same tire as Antonelli, 132 thousandths behind the Mercedes driver. The New Zealander improved in the first two sectors, but not in the third.

11:22 – Alonso pushes again with medium C3 tires, losing a tenth in T1.

11:20 – Antonelli reaches 60 laps.

11.17 – Hamilton has locked up during his run. Another run for Antonelli who starts from 34″, 34″2 to be precise.

11.15 – Bearman is the only one far from the group in terms of lap time, but he has still completed 56 laps.

11.10 – More images of Lawson’s error.

11.08 – Medium C3 tire for Antonelli and the best time: 1’31″428. Hamilton has risen to 37″1.

11.06 – Hamilton is lapping in 36″, running with a full fuel load on C3 tires.

11.04 – Lawson has obviously returned to the pits.

11.02 – Lawson launched to push but lost control of the Red Bull between Turn-2 and Turn-3. The New Zealand driver managed to avoid hitting the barriers after a pendulum effect, the set of tires is now unusable.

11.00 – The situation with 60 minutes remaining in this session.

10.59 – Tomorrow Red Bull will have Lawson on track, Verstappen will drive on Friday. Rain is expected tomorrow.

10.58 – Work completed at Ferrari, Hamilton returns to the track. Medium C3 tire.

10.57 – Lawson lost the rear in Turn-4 on this lap.

10.55 – Piastri is alternating between a ‘pushed’ lap and a lap at constant speed. Lawson returns to the track with a medium C3 tire and noticeable paint on the left sidepod. Antonelli has completed his long run.

10.50 – There are now nine drivers within 625 thousandths.

10:43 – At Ferrari, they have ‘covered’ the pit box with mobile barriers to work on the SF-25.

10:40 – The Mercedes driver has now set a time of 34″2.

10:35 – Antonelli is now lapping at 33″5.

10:30 – Returning to the pits, Lawson lost some parts from the rear.

10:27 – Antonelli moves up to eighth position, 625 thousandths behind Albon.

10:21 – Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, and Bearman have already completed 40 laps.

10:20 – Hamilton has returned to the pits, then performed a start practice at the end of the pit lane and may have started a long run.

10:17 – Hamilton is back out with the medium C3 tire.

10:15 – Latest timesheet

10.03 – Lawson returns to the top with a 1’31″574, exactly three-tenths ahead of Alonso, setting the best sector times in the first and third sectors.

10.01 – Lawson is back on track, still on C2 tires.

09.55 – The cold temperatures are helping this morning’s lap times. It’s colder than a year ago – with rain even expected tomorrow – which means everything is working better, from the tires to aerodynamics (due to lower temperatures).

09.52 – Tsunoda and Hamilton have both exceeded 30 laps.

09.50 – Alonso is already one and a half seconds faster than he was on the first day of testing last year.

09.48 – Meanwhile, Albon and Hulkenberg are already battling on track.

09.47 – The top seven are separated by just half a second. This could be a recurring scenario in this final season of the technical and regulatory cycle introduced in 2022.

09.41 – Alonso displaces Lawson with a 1’31″874 on C3 tires, clocking a lap 40 milliseconds faster than the New Zealander’s.

09.39 – Hamilton moves up to second place, just 136 milliseconds behind Lawson, using a more performance-oriented tire (C2 vs. C3).

09.38 – Correction from Hamilton on the exit of Turn 4.

09.37 – Hamilton is back on track on medium C3 tires.

09.35 – Albon climbs to third place, 396 milliseconds behind Lawson, with a lot of red paint on his rear wing.

09.33 – Tsunoda, on medium C3 tires, sets the best first sector time and moves up to second place, 247 milliseconds behind Lawson.

09.30 – Lawson improves again, dropping below 32″ with a time of 1’31″914.

09.27 – Hulkenberg moves into second place, 353 thousandths behind Lawson, on medium tires.

09.25 – Lawson takes the lead with a 1’32″036 on hard tires (C2). His time is already faster than Verstappen’s morning lap on day 1 a year ago (32″5).

09:20 – Mercedes is also working on the suspension to adjust the ride height of the W16.

09:16 – Hamilton now clocks a 34″5. The C3 compound he is using is the softest available in Bahrain. After this third lap, he lifts off.

09:15 – Latest timesheet

09:05 – Lewis Hamilton jumps to the top of the timesheets with a 1:32.621 at the start of his third run of the morning.

With 14 laps completed in the SF-25, he heads into the second hour of testing.

08:57 – Now Lawson moves up to second position, 106 thousandths behind Alonso.

08:55 – Lawson moves up to fourth position, just under eight-tenths behind Alonso. Tsunoda is currently third with a two-tenths margin over Lawson. However, the Japanese driver set his time on a softer tire than Lawson.

08:50 – Slight lock-up at Turn 1 for Alonso. The Spanish driver moves to the top with a time of 1’33″031, just over a tenth faster than Doohan.

08:47 – Alonso moves into second place with a time of 1’33″359.

08:45 – Doohan, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, and Hamilton (the current top four in the standings) have all completed 10 or more laps in these first 45 minutes.

08:40 – Second run for Hamilton, the first without aerodynamic rakes.

08:35 – A first gallery of the cars on track.

08:30 – The wind is challenging the drivers. Doohan moves to the top with a time of 1’33″196 ahead of Hulkenberg and Bearman.

08:25 – Lawson, Hamilton, Antonelli, and Tsunoda are the drivers who have set an initial timed lap so far (not representative times).

08:20 – Lawson has completed his run and gestured to the technicians about the car’s behavior. From his gestures, he may have indicated a rather unstable rear end on this first outing.

08:15 – Obviously, in these early laps, the drivers are doing runs to start mapping the cars.

08:10 – Albon also takes to the track, the only one who was still missing. Lawson is currently the fastest with a time of 1’35″806.

08:07 – No rakes for Lawson, who instead has flow-viz (colored paint) applied to the floor near the sidepod inlets.

08:05 – Antonelli is also running with rakes in front of the W16’s sidepods.

08:03 – Hamilton, for example, has a conspicuous set of Pitot tubes between the front wheels and the sidepods. On the straight, he is running at a constant speed.

08:02 – Right behind Antonelli, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Doohan, Lawson, and Piastri follow. Most of the cars are equipped with aerodynamic rakes to collect data.

08:00 – Green light at the end of the pit lane, the first session of the 2025 winter tests begins. A great season to all FormulaPassion.it readers. The first to take to the track is Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the wheel of the Mercedes W16, which completed a 200 km shakedown yesterday at the Sakhir circuit.

07:55 – Air temperature is 14°C, track temperature is 24°C.

07:50 – First-day-of-school atmosphere in Bahrain.

07:40 – Here is the Red Bull duo, with Lawson in his racing suit as he will be driving this morning. The images of yesterday’s Red Bull shakedown showed no differences between the RB21 and the RB20, to the point that some started wondering whether Red Bull would actually be running the 2024 car. Team principal Christian Horner responded by saying that everything not visible has been redesigned and optimized. Will the RB21 be able to complete the unfinished journey of the RB20? Will it be enough to give Verstappen the chance to defend his title? We’ll start finding out shortly.

07:30 – Angela Cullen has brought Hamilton a hearty breakfast ahead of these four hours of driving.

07:20 – Here are the times and laps completed one year ago in the first morning of the 2024 tests on Wednesday, February 21.

1. Verstappen 1’32″548 (66 laps)
2. Leclerc 1’33″247 (62 laps)
3. Alonso 1’33″385 (77 laps)
4. Piastri 1’33″658 (57 laps)
5. Tsunoda 1’34″136 (64 laps)
6. Russell 1’34″230 (48 laps)
7. Bottas 1’34″431 (68 laps)
8. Albon 1’34″587 (40 laps)
9. Ocon 1’34″677 (60 laps)
10. Magnussen 1’35″692 (66 laps)

07:10 – The list of drivers expected on track this morning.

McLaren – Oscar Piastri
Ferrari – Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull – Liam Lawson
Mercedes – Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Aston Martin – Fernando Alonso
Alpine – Jack Doohan
Haas – Ollie Bearman
Racing Bulls – Yuki Tsunoda
Williams – Alex Albon
Sauber – Nico Hulkenberg

07:00 – Let’s start our coverage by recalling the tire choices made by the teams for this three-day test and the driving shifts. Below is also Pirelli’s legend for identifying the compounds we will see on track. Of course, the sole supplier has made the full range available. Ferrari, for example, has selected at least one set of tires for all six dry-weather compounds.