P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lando Norris began Formula 1 pre-season testing in strong fashion by setting the fastest time of an opening day that was hit by a bizarre power outage in Bahrain. The McLaren driver, who won last y…
During the first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, Lando Norris showed strong performance by setting the fastest lap-time despite facing a power outage that halted proceedings. Norris, driving for McLaren, continued his good form from last season and was just half a second off the quickest time from last year’s pre-season testing. The power outage was caused by an external substation failure, plunging the circuit into darkness and necessitating an hour-long delay before testing could resume. After resuming, Norris remained at the top of the leaderboard, ahead of George Russell and Max Verstappen, while new teammate Liam Lawson had a solid start for Red Bull. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also impressed with the new car, as did Lewis Hamilton, who showed signs of struggling with the Ferrari in high-speed corners. By the end of the day, Carlos Sainz, now with Williams, was on par with Leclerc in terms of performance, ending the day positively with 68 laps completed.
