Day one of the first official Bahrain test didn’t so much answer questions as rearrange the order they’re being asked in — and, right now, the loudest one is whether McLaren has picked up in 2026 exactly where it left off.
Lando Norris topped the timesheets with a 1:34.669 during his afternoon run in the MCL40, a clean, uncomplicated headline time that still carries weight this early because it wasn’t accompanied by any obvious caveats. No frantic final minutes, no “it was on a different programme” excuses from rivals, no sense McLaren was having to wrestle the car into performance. Norris logged 50 laps and, on the first proper day where teams start to feel the clock ticking, that combination of pace and tidiness is what gets noticed up and down the pitlane.
Red Bull, predictably, played the other game: mileage. Max Verstappen rattled through 129 laps in the RB22 — comfortably the biggest workload of anyone — and ended the day just 0.129s down on Norris. That gap is small enough to keep everyone honest without giving anything away. If you’re trying to read between the lines, the detail that matters isn’t the deficit; it’s the volume of laps suggesting Red Bull turned up ready to grind through the plan rather than chase a headline.
Ferrari sat in a familiar-looking place: close enough to feel involved, far enough away to keep the notebooks open. Charles Leclerc was third, 0.521s off Norris, while Lewis Hamilton ended up seventh at +1.764. It’s testing, and it’s day one, but it’s still striking how the times tell two stories at once — Leclerc in range, Hamilton a step back — which may say more about run plans than outright speed. Either way, Ferrari’s early homework looks focused on building a baseline rather than throwing punches.
Perhaps the eyebrow-raiser in the top five was Esteban Ocon in fourth for Haas at +0.909. It’s the kind of result you file under “interesting, but wait for the next three days” — yet Haas having a tidy opening day matters for morale, and it hints they’ve started this season with a car that at least gives drivers something coherent to work with.
Oscar Piastri completed McLaren’s quietly strong day by going fifth after his morning session, 0.933s off his team-mate. He managed 54 laps, and McLaren will be pleased to have ticked off both halves of the day without drama. That’s not glamorous, but it’s how serious test weeks are built.
Mercedes put both cars in the mix without threatening the very top: George Russell was sixth at +1.439 and Kimi Antonelli 11th at +2.960. Again, programme unknowns loom large, but Mercedes looked like a team gathering information rather than reaching for the glory run. The first day in Bahrain is rarely where championships are won, but it’s often where the tone is set for how hard a team thinks it needs to chase.
Behind them, the midfield spread was wide and a little messy — which, in truth, is exactly what you expect before set-ups converge and fuel loads get played with. Pierre Gasly put Alpine eighth, though the team’s day included a red flag in the morning when Franco Colapinto hit trouble. Later on, Audi also triggered a stoppage in the afternoon when Nico Hulkenberg encountered an issue. Both teams were able to get back out, but any interruption on day one always stings: the run plan is sacred in modern testing, and you don’t get these hours back.
Williams had a mixed-looking day on paper, with Alex Albon 10th and Carlos Sainz 13th, while Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad finished 12th. Cadillac’s early running placed Sergio Perez 14th and Valtteri Bottas 16th — not a meaningful competitive verdict, but the kind of placement that will inevitably get picked apart until the times become less elastic later in the week.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 17th, and Colapinto ended the day 18th after Alpine’s morning interruption.
For the record, the full classification from day one:
1. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:34.669
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.129
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.521
4. Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.909
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.933
6. George Russell (Mercedes) +1.439
7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +1.764
8. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +2.096
9. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +2.192
10. Alex Albon (Williams) +2.768
11. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +2.960
12. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +3.276
13. Carlos Sainz (Williams) +3.552
14. Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +4.159
15. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +4.202
16. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +4.481
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +5.214
18. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +5.661
What it all “means” is the usual dangerous question — but it’s hard to ignore the shape of the day. McLaren arrived and immediately looked comfortable, Red Bull banked serious mileage without blinking, and Ferrari started in pursuit mode rather than on the front foot. Day one doesn’t decide anything, but it can reveal who’s calm and who’s already calculating how much they need to find.
