Having accomplished his first official look with Williams, Carlos Sainz was left impressed with the efficiency of his new automotive, however he targets to discover a higher steadiness within the the rest of pre-season testing.
McLaren driver Lando Norris ended up quickest on the opening day of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, narrowly beating George Russell, reigning champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari racer Charles Leclerc.
The primary day of operating was bizarrely halted by an influence lower halfway via the afternoon session, with the circuit-wide energy outage having precipitated the session to be red-flagged for over an hour because the paddock and garages descended into darkness. As soon as energy was restored, the session was prolonged by an additional hour to compensate for the misplaced operating.
Having sat out the opening a part of the day, Lando Norris rapidly discovered his approach to the sharp finish of the sphere, posting a time of 1m30.430s. It was 0.157s faster than what Mercedes’ George Russell managed.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was a few tenths adrift in third for Pink Bull, however his long-run tempo seemed spectacular.
Having made the change from Ferrari to Williams, Carlos Sainz accomplished a constructive opening day in Bahrain, ending up fifth quickest behind his former team-mate Charles Leclerc.
“Total, it was a constructive first day for the staff, particularly given a few of the monitor stoppages we had with the blackout. We managed to finish the run plan, and we acquired in loads of laps which is all the time the primary goal of the primary day.
“First impressions are constructive however clearly between now and the following couple of days, we’ll attempt to enhance the steadiness of the automotive in each quick and lengthy runs,” concluded the Spaniard.
His new team-mate Alexander Albon highlighted some points with the brand new automotive, insisting that the Grove-based outfit might want to discover a much less wise setup.
“It was an okay day at this time. We nonetheless have a number of issues to work on, however our base automotive feels fairly wise. That is what Testing’s about, making an attempt to grasp the programs and whether or not there are issues we have to deal with.
“We’ve made a number of modifications to the automotive which is constructive. As a staff, we’ve had a few alternatives to run the automotive already this yr in order that’s a very good factor – however as drivers, we all the time want we had extra time. All in all although, it was good to get on the market!”
First official easy operation 👊 pic.twitter.com/gP4tIUq1M0
— Atlassian Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 26, 2025
Williams‘ chief engineer Dave Robson commented: “It’s all the time good to lastly get a brand new automotive to the monitor and start to grasp how the efficiency and persona of the automotive compares to expectation. Now we have labored exhausting throughout the FW47 growth interval to resolve the weaknesses of final yr’s automotive and to make sure that FW47 is aggressive in a broad vary of circumstances.
“Carlos’ suggestions from driving final yr’s automotive in Abu Dhabi confirmed that we have been targeted on the proper areas however solely at this time may we start the method of understanding whether or not that focus has been rewarded.
“Circumstances have been cool and gusty all day, and while not essentially consultant of how the climate can be after we return right here for the Grand Prix subsequent month, they’re fairly helpful circumstances by which to push the automotive and to discover its consistency.
“The automotive ran reliably all day permitting each drivers to get some worthwhile expertise within the it. Based mostly on their expertise at this time, and utilizing the info we collected from over 700km of easy operating, we’ll plan the ultimate two days of pre-season testing.
“Carlos will proceed within the automotive tomorrow earlier than Alex takes over for the ultimate day on Friday. There may be inevitably loads of work left to be accomplished in a brief house of time, nevertheless, we’ve had a very good begin and are ready to push the automotive tougher over the following two days.”
