Title favourite Lando Norris was fastest for Formula One constructors' champions McLaren on the first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain on Wednesday. 

Norris topped the timesheets by 0.157 seconds to Mercedes' George Russell, while defending world champion Max Verstappen ended the day as the third fastest on the track. 

Charles Leclerc was a place further back in fourth, while his new Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who ran in the morning session, finished 13th after completing 70 laps. 

The afternoon session, when all the day's quickest laps were set as the sun started to set, was plunged into darkness after a power cut at the Bahrain International Circuit. 

Subsequently, the track action was extended by an hour, which saw Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly, Kimi Antonelli, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda finishing in the top 10. 

Russell was encouraged by the performance of the Mercedes after three seasons when the team knew from testing that they were facing a tough time in the months ahead.

"The car is performing well. We've got to be careful because in Bahrain it's usually 20C hotter," Russell said. 

"This is the best it has ever felt around Bahrain, but I'm sure it's the same for all testees. I am enjoying it. I had confidence, the long-run pace looked all right.

"We are not going to get carried away with ourselves, but so far so good. We've had some tests here where it did not go well, but so far it is silky smooth."

The Day 1 results are in!

Lando Norris sets the fastest time in Sakhir in the PM session #F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/uwQxpk0NyT

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 26, 2025

Norris' team-mate, Oscar Piastri, who drove in the morning session and was 16th on the timesheets, was confident the team had made strides after a poor start last season. 

"The car is feeling pretty good, just trying to get [it] into a bit of a better window," Piastri said. 

"I think we're in OK shape. A few teams looking pretty good early on. [It's] early doors, but we're pretty happy.

"We're doing a good job of focusing on ourselves and getting some good information. It's already looking very close, so I think we're in for a very exciting year in F1."