Day 1 Testing: Times Don’t Tell the Full Story in Bahrain

Kick Sauber Stake F1 Team mechanics working - Photo by Damian Hall

Pre-season testing is always a time of speculation, excitement and uncertainty. The fastest times on the leaderboard might seem to paint a clear picture, but in reality, they offer only a fraction of the full story. Lando Norris’ best lap of 1:30.430 for McLaren topped the opening day of 2025 testing in Bahrain, but does that mean McLaren is the team to beat this season? Not necessarily.

Each team runs its own program of test laps, with different fuel loads, tyre compounds, engine settings and aero configurations. Some prioritize short run pace, while others focus on long distance reliability or new components. The result? A mix of fast and slow times that don’t necessarily reflect the actual competitive order for the season ahead.

Take Max Verstappen’s session for example. The reigning champion set the third-fastest time for Red Bull, but he also hit the top speed of the day at 329.4 km/h (204.7 mph). That could suggest a lower downforce setup or an aggressive DRS-assisted run, rather than an all-out attempt at a qualifying pace. Similarly, Carlos Sainz’s fifth fastest time for Williams may raise eyebrows, but what isn’t visible is whether he was running an extremely light fuel load compared to the others.

In the high stakes world of Formula 1, “sandbagging” - the act of deliberately underperforming in testing to avoid revealing a car’s true potential - is a common tactic. Mercedes has been known to do this in the past, only to emerge dominant when the season begins. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the fourth fastest time, but Ferrari’s real focus may have been tyre degradation and long-run consistency, something that testing lap times alone won’t show.

Lap times also fail to capture the bigger picture of a team's race simulation runs. Sir Lewis Hamilton, now driving for Ferrari, finished the day in 13th place, but that may not be a concern if his laps were focused on consistency over outright speed. Meanwhile, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman finished last on the leaderboard, but Haas ran the highest total lap count of any team (88 and 72 laps, respectively) - a clear indication that their focus was on data gathering rather than headline times.

Instead of just looking at the lap times, teams will be analysing data on tyre degradation across different stints, engine reliability under heavy loads, aerodynamic efficiency across different configurations and cooling performance among other things.

For now, Day 1’s leaderboard means very little in terms of outright performance, but the information gathered by the teams will be vital ahead of the first race of the season.

As testing continues, expect to see fluctuating times, different strategies, and perhaps hints of which teams are truly in the mix for 2025. But for now, the full competitive picture remains an incomplete puzzle.

So, at the end of day 1 testing, times don't tell the full story in Bahrain.