Charles Leclerc completes first day of testing with 64 laps in Bahrain

After a little breather at the Bahrain International circuit, the afternoon session got under way, with Charles Leclerc taking over the SF-23 car from his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz, after the Spanish driver completed 72 laps for Scuderia Ferrari in the morning session.

The light at the end of the pit lane went green as several cars returned to the track. Max Verstappen continued Red Bull’s testing programme after putting the Austrian side at the top of the early timesheets, while Lewis Hamilton got behind the wheel of the W14 replacing his teammate George Russell.

Max Verstappen was the first to emerge in his Red Bull, looking to build on his morning. It was just a brief venture on track for the double world champion, though the silence wasn’t a long one as Nyck de Vries joined the action: the former Formula 2 and Formula E champion is making his debut on the grid with AlphaTauri this season. Lewis Hamilton then completed his first lap of the day in the W14, with Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc also on track in their respective cars.

After one hour of running, there was no dent on this morning’s top 10: Max Verstappen, who was up to 81 laps, still led, while Lando Norris was the fastest so far this afternoon with a 1:36.873, almost four seconds off the lead. Lewis Hamilton was 12th. These weren’t the best conditions for fast times, given that it was the hottest part of the day in Bahrain – and that was evident from the lack of movement on the timesheets, into the top 10 at least: Charles Leclerc had the fastest time from the afternoon so far, a 1:34.896. That was two seconds off Max Verstappen’s benchmark.

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Due to the conditions, the only movement were really seeing was from positions 11 to 19 and Lewis Hamilton posted his best time of the day to move up to 13th: it was a 1:35.958 for the seven-time world champion. He slotted in behind former team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo, and the Ferrari Monegasque driver. Despite the heat, Max Verstappen was able to set a purple first sector and then very nearly beat his best time of the morning, coming just six hundredths of a second short in the end. That meant he had the two fastest times of the day at that stage. It has not been an ideal day for Aston Martin, with a stoppage first thing this morning and just two laps for Fernando Alonso this afternoon after the first two hours. The team explained he sustained some floor damage.

Lewis Hamilton pumped in Mercedes’ fastest time of the day, a 1:33.901 which lifted him up to fifth and within a second of Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc was seventh for Ferrari, with the afternoon runners beginning to find speed as the session progressed. There was even more speed for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes: it’s was 1:33.508 for the British driver in that much more stable W14 and he was just half a second off Verstappen now, leapfrogging Albon and Zhou. Fernando Alonso, whose reliability issues we mentioned earlier, was also making a move, finding pace on just his 12th lap of the day: it was a 1:33.764 for him, going sixth.

Lewis Hamilton pumped in Mercedes’ fastest time of the day, a 1:33.901 which lifted him up to fifth and within a second of Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc was seventh for Ferrari, with the afternoon runners beginning to find speed as the session progressed. There was sven more speed for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes: it’s was 1:33.508 for the British driver in that much more stable W14 and he was just half a second off Verstappen now, leapfrogging Albon and Zhou. Fernando Alonso, whose reliability issues we mentioned earlier, was also making a move, finding pace on just his 12th lap of the day: it was a 1:33.764 for him, going sixth.

Max Verstappen had a response to those times being put down by fellow world champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso: the Dutchman did a 1:32.837 to pull four tenths clear at the top of the timesheet.

There were some beautiful views to be had around the Bahrain International Circuit in the final two hours of the afternoon session as the sun gradually disappeared.

Logan Sargeant continued his improvement, delivering a 1:34.324 to move up to ninth. He had already got through 58 laps and was having a productive first F1 pre-season testing session. Meanwhile, Lando Norris provided some encouragement for McLaren, jumping up to eighth – which moved Sargeant down to 10th.

In the final 30 minutes of the afternoon session, conditions were similar to the ones often seen during the Bahrain race weekend and far more appropriate for the quickest times of the day: Fernando Alonso vaulted up to second in the Aston Martin. It was green, green, purple sectors for the 40-year-old and he was just 0.029s off the Dutchman.

Charles Leclerc also found pace with a 1:33.267, just shy of team-mate Carlos Sainz. He was fourth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. There was some late improvement for Lando Norris on Day One as the McLaren driver progressed up to fifth, half a tenth ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Both Brits are 0.6s off Max Verstappen. Plenty of drivers were back into the pits as we headed into the final five minutes of what has been a longer-than-usual eight-and-a-half-hour day of testing. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are still out there, but did not manage to improve their personal best lap time.

And that was all for the first day! It’s been a busy, busy, busy day for all teams, with few reliability issues and more pace than we were perhaps expecting. What wasn’t unexpected though was Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s form, with the double world champion picking up where he left off last year with the fastest time. But encouraging days for Aston Martin and the Maranello team, while Mercedes – buoyed by their lack of bouncing – also look quick.

Scuderia Ferrari ended Thursday with more than 125 laps on this first day of testing in Sakhir. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will be back on track tomorrow to continue preparations ahead of the 2023 Formula 1 championship.