Leclerc leads disrupted Bahrain test as Mercedes, Red Bull hit trouble

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time on the second morning of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, while Mercedes and Red Bull faced significant reliability issues that severely limited their running. Leclerc's 1m34.273s on soft tyres put him ahead of Lando Norris, who set his time on mediums, in a session disrupted by technical gremlins for several teams.

Why it matters:

Pre-season testing is a critical period for teams to gather data and build reliability ahead of the opening race. Major disruptions for top teams like Mercedes and Red Bull so early in the test represent lost development time and could signal underlying concerns that need urgent resolution before the competitive season begins.

The details:

• Ferrari's pace: Leclerc's leading time of 1m34.273s was set on the soft compound tyre, giving Ferrari an early but tentative performance boost.
• McLaren's consistency: Lando Norris finished second with a 1m34.784s, but crucially set his time on the medium tyre, a harder and potentially more race-relevant compound.
• Red Bull's setback: The reigning champions managed only a single installation lap with Isack Hadjar after a hydraulic leak was discovered. The team lost the entire morning session as a result.
• Mercedes' woes: Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli completed just three laps before a power unit issue sidelined the car for the rest of the morning, disrupting George Russell's planned afternoon running.
• Other incidents: Sergio Perez brought out a red flag on his first out-lap for Cadillac but returned to complete 42 laps. Alpine's Pierre Gasly was 'best of the rest' in third, over two seconds off the lead pace.

What's next:

The focus for the afternoon session and the final day of testing will be on recovery and mileage.

• Red Bull and Mercedes will be under pressure to diagnose their issues quickly and maximize track time to recoup lost data.
• Teams will begin transitioning to longer race simulations and fuel loads, moving beyond initial shakedowns, which will provide a clearer picture of true performance.
• While lap times in testing are notoriously unrepresentative, patterns in reliability and consistent long-run pace will start to form the early narrative for the 2025 season.