Norris leads Verstappen and Russell on second morning of final Bahrain test

Lando Norris posted the fastest time as pre-season testing continued at the Bahrain International Circuit on Thursday, leading the way from Max Verstappen and George Russell.

McLaren driver Norris clocked a 1m 33.453s during the first four-hour session of the day, putting him just over a tenth ahead of Red Bull rival Verstappen, and some six-tenths up on Mercedes man Russell.

Norris and Russell both worked their way past race distances in productive outings, before they move aside for team mates Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli this afternoon – five teams opting to swap drivers over lunch, and six sticking with a single driver all day.

Alex Albon, Ollie Bearman and Franco Colapinto also got a solid amount of mileage on the board for Williams, Haas and Alpine, placing fourth, sixth and seventh respectively, and sandwiching the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto.

Bortoleto and Liam Lawson both spent lengthy spells in the pits as Audi and Racing Bulls worked on their cars, limiting them to around half a race distance, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso also below the 57-lap milestone.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari completed the fewest laps of the session, though – unspecified issues interrupting the seven-time World Champion’s programme and limiting him to a handful of tours after he emerged with an intriguing test item.

Indeed, Ferrari got technical figures talking up and down the pit lane when the upper element of their rear wing appeared to flip upside down in ‘Straight Mode’, seemingly to further explore Active Aero options and the transition between straights and corners.

Valtteri Bottas brought up the rear for 2026 newcomers Cadillac with a time some 6.7s slower than Norris’ benchmark, after the team spent the first hour or so of the session in their garage for the second successive test day.

Despite that lengthy delay, the Finn managed to get a full race distance on the board – and gather another round of useful data for the squad to dig into – ahead of team mate Sergio Perez’s stint at the wheel in the afternoon.

F1 drivers and teams will now take a break for lunch, with the penultimate afternoon session in Bahrain due to get under way at 1500 local time – running until 1900 as the sun sets and the floodlights switch on.