Lando Norris fastest but Verstappen stays close as F1 testing begins in Bahrain

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Lando Norris hailed a “positive day” for McLaren as the Formula 1 champion went fastest on the opening day of preseason testing in Bahrain on Wednesday.

In an early sign that Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could renew their title battle this season despite sweeping changes to the cars, Norris was fastest by 0.129 of a second, with Verstappen second.

After a secretive “shakedown” test in Spain last month, the focus shifts toward performance rather than basic reliability this week.

“Of course, being in Bahrain in the sun, the conditions are very different to Barcelona, very hot and quite windy, and that was interesting to see how differently the car behaves,” Norris said. “Positive day, lots learned, and looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff singled out Verstappen in particular as “very, very strong,” but the Dutch driver said his focus was on testing out Red Bull’s new engine, developed with Ford, and the tires and “we are not focusing on lap times and the standings.”

It’s the first of three days of testing this week, with three more next week. The first race of the season is the Australian Grand Prix next month.

New regulations for 2026 make cars shorter, narrower and lighter, with more reliance on electrical power.

Testing times aren’t always representative of real race pace, with teams running different strategies and testing out new components, but Wednesday’s lap times were strikingly similar to last season’s standings.

Charles Leclerc went third-fastest for Ferrari, which has a point to prove after going winless last season. Esteban Ocon was a surprise fourth for Haas, with Norris’ teammate and last season’s title rival Oscar Piastri fifth.

George Russell was sixth-fastest after weeks of speculation about whether Mercedes could have the pace to dominate in 2026, with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton seventh for Ferrari.

Hamilton said it had been “a pretty difficult decision to make” not to continue with Riccardo Adami as his race engineer following a tough debut season with Ferrari.

New team Cadillac had a subdued day with Sergio Perez 14th and Valtteri Bottas 16th in the American team’s cars. For Williams, it was a day of learning after delays meant it couldn’t take part in Barcelona last month. Alex Albon was 10th-fastest and Carlos Sainz, Jr. 13th.

“In terms of the car, what I can say is there’s no vices to it, there’s nothing particularly poor, but clearly we have to dig into the details,” team principal James Vowles said.

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AP Formula 1: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one