P1racenews AI automatic summary:
The first two hours of the afternoon session of pre-season testing in Bahrain saw Charles Leclerc set the pace.
In Bahrain, Charles Leclerc was the fastest driver at the midway point of the afternoon session, igniting his season with a strong performance. He took the wheel from Lewis Hamilton and set the fastest time just before the halfway mark, surpassing George Russell by two-tenths of a second. Despite rookie Kimi Antonelli leading in the morning, he slipped to fifth place, with Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly also shining. Max Verstappen, starting his title defense campaign, secured the sixth position, ahead of his teammate Liam Lawson. Notably, Lawson and Isack Hadjar experienced spinouts in the morning, while Norris climbed to third place after a slow start. Finally, Bortoleto was the sole driver who hadn’t clocked an official lap time by the two-hour mark.
