---
title: "F1 Bahrain test day 1: Verstappen's 136 laps told us more than Norris's fastest time"
publishDate: 2026-02-12T10:30:00.000Z
lastUpdated: 2026-02-12T10:26:19.997Z
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html: https://tarmactimes.com/en/f1/articles/f1-bahrain-test-day-1-verstappens-136-laps-told-us-more-than-norriss-fastest-time/245e9m
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---
Featured image: 
The sound of a new Formula 1 era finally has a soundtrack, and it reverberates around the Bahrain International Circuit with a noticeably different pitch. Day 1 of the first official 2026 pre-season test is done, Lando Norris sits atop the timing screens with a 1:34.669, and none of that matters nearly as much as what happened beneath the headline numbers.
Because while the reigning world champion's afternoon lap put him 0.129 seconds clear of Max Verstappen and gave McLaren the bragging rights on paper, just about every engineer I've spoken to in the paddock is talking about one team.
And it isn't McLaren. It's Red Bull.
## Red Bull and Verstappen set the tone
Let me paint the picture of what made Verstappen's day so striking. He was the first car out when the session went green at 10am local time. He was still out there as the floodlights took over in the evening. In between, he racked up 136 laps, comfortably more than two full Grand Prix distances, and the Red Bull RB22 didn't miss a beat.
For a team running a brand new, in-house designed power unit for the very first time in competitive conditions, that's a remarkable achievement.
But the mileage alone isn't what had people talking. It was the consistency. Verstappen's long-run pace was metronomic, turning laps in the high 1:37s to low 1:38s across multiple stints on different tyre compounds, with barely any drop-off. That kind of stability on Day 1 of a completely new regulatory era is unusual, to put it mildly.
And then there was the technique that had everyone craning their necks at Turn 10.
Verstappen was repeatedly dropping all the way down to first gear under braking at the slow left-hander, a corner that would normally be taken in second. The result was a sharp spike in engine revs and visible instability through the car, but the purpose was clear: squeezing every last drop of energy recovery through the MGU-K to feed that much more powerful 2026 battery system.
As [The Race's Scott Mitchell-Malm detailed in his trackside analysis](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the-trick-making-verstappen-and-red-bull-stand-out-from-trackside/), Verstappen was deploying this approach from the very first lap, consistently and deliberately. Most rivals stuck to conventional gearing. Audi experimented with something similar but looked far less composed doing it, with both Bortoleto and Hulkenberg appearing to struggle with the resulting instability.
It's a small detail that speaks volumes. Red Bull clearly designed this engine with aggressive energy harvesting strategies baked in from the start, and Verstappen, as ever, seems perfectly comfortable wrestling with the consequences.
Toto Wolff certainly noticed. The Mercedes boss told media, including [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/47897871/toto-wolff-red-bull-set-benchmark-formula-1-testing-mercedes-bahrain), that Red Bull's energy deployment appeared to give Verstappen roughly a second per lap advantage on the straights. Not on a single flier. Consistently, over multiple runs.
When asked if Mercedes could match it, Wolff was blunt: "Today, no."
Now, there's a reason to take that praise with a degree of scepticism. Pointing the spotlight at Red Bull conveniently deflects attention from Mercedes' own engine controversy, more on that shortly. But even accounting for the politics, the underlying data appears genuine.
Multiple teams were monitoring Red Bull's GPS traces and coming to similar conclusions.
## Mercedes stumble where they were expected to dominate
If Red Bull was the day's biggest positive surprise, Mercedes provided the most notable cautionary tale.
Coming into Bahrain, the Silver Arrows were widely considered the team to beat. Their Barcelona shakedown had been seamless, racking up huge mileage while rivals struggled with teething issues, and the paddock consensus pointed firmly toward Brackley.
That narrative took a dent on Wednesday.
George Russell completed a near race-distance morning stint, but the team was battling car balance problems throughout. Trackside engineering chief Andrew Shovlin admitted they faced challenges with brake locking, poor traction, and what he described as general inconsistency.
When Kimi Antonelli took over for the afternoon, things got worse. A suspension issue was discovered during setup changes, and the young Italian spent roughly two hours sitting in the garage while the team investigated. They got him back out for the final hour, but it was a salvage operation at that point, limited to two sets of the hardest compound for basic data gathering. [F1.com's Lawrence Barretto covered the details](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-we-learned-from-day-1-of-the-first-2026-pre-season-test-in-bahrain.SdwlzLKhub1jzViXP3Lqa) in his Day 1 debrief.
One bad day in testing is hardly a crisis, and Mercedes have the engineering depth to bounce back quickly. But the context matters.
This is a team under intense political scrutiny over the [compression ratio controversy](https://tarmactimes.com/en/f1/articles/mercedes-under-fire-as-engine-loophole-threatens-2026-season-start/3qhwpq) that has dominated the pre-season. Ferrari, Honda, and Audi have all lodged concerns with the FIA, and with homologation looming on March 1, it's the elephant in every paddock conversation.
It made Wolff's decision to publicly anoint Red Bull as the benchmark feel like a very deliberate piece of media management.
## McLaren: fast but measured
On the surface, McLaren had the best day of anyone. Norris's 1:34.669 was the quickest time across both sessions, and between him and Oscar Piastri in the morning, the MCL40 completed 112 laps with no significant issues.
But as [Motorsport.com noted in their day one report](https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-bahrain-2026-pre-season-test-norris-edges-verstappen-on-day-one/10796786/), it would be foolish to read too much into the headline time. The cars are still immature. Drivers were circulating with aero rakes and flow-vis paint for much of the day. Fuel loads are anyone's guess. Norris's quick lap came on softer rubber during a short run late in the afternoon.
What you can say is that McLaren looked composed and methodical, which is exactly what you want at this stage.
No drama, solid mileage, useful data collected.
## The stories further down the grid
Beyond the front-running conversation, several teams provided compelling subplots.
Williams delivered arguably the feel-good story of the day. This team missed the Barcelona shakedown entirely due to production delays and arrived in Bahrain needing to do basic systems checks that every other team completed weeks ago. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon combined for a grid-leading 145 laps.
Team principal James Vowles told media the FW48 had "no vices" in its early running, though he was predictably keen to manage expectations. The car is reportedly slightly overweight, with a weight reduction programme planned for after the season begins, but in terms of sheer reliability on their first outing, Williams couldn't have asked for more.
Cadillac continued to impress in their debut. F1's 11th team, confirmed barely a year ago, split running between Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas and clocked 107 laps. They've hit every pre-season deadline, shook down on schedule, and several rival teams have been privately impressed by both their approach and some of the technical details on the car. Pat Symonds described their in-season development plans as "robust" and "aggressive."
For a brand new operation, that's about as good as you could hope for.
Audi turned heads with a dramatically revised sidepod concept. The R26 emerged with far smaller, more vertical inlets compared to the horizontal slatted design seen in Barcelona. As [The Race's Jon Noble explained](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/first-look-at-audis-dramatic-new-sidepods-in-f1-testing/), the new design bears some resemblance to Mercedes' infamous zeropod experiment from 2022, though Audi has retained its bodywork and refined the upper surfaces for a more aggressive downwash effect.
Gabriel Bortoleto ran 49 laps in the morning before Nico Hulkenberg took over, but a breakdown brought out the red flag about an hour into the afternoon. Hulkenberg eventually returned and completed a decent tally. A mixed bag overall.
Ferrari had a productive if unspectacular day. Lewis Hamilton spun at Turn 1 during his morning stint but otherwise completed 52 laps before handing over to Charles Leclerc, who set the third fastest time overall. Combined total: 132 laps. Multiple observers noted the SF-26 didn't look as settled as it had in Barcelona, which suggests there's setup work to do, but nothing alarming.
Haas quietly put together one of the strongest individual efforts on the grid. Esteban Ocon was one of only four drivers given all-day running, and he made the most of it: 115 laps and the fourth quickest time.
Arvid Lindblad, the sole 2026 rookie, spent the whole day in the Racing Bulls. He completed 75 laps in the morning before a fluid leak curtailed his afternoon. For an 18-year-old on his first proper day in an F1 car, that's a solid showing.
At the other end of the spectrum, Alpine and Aston Martin had days to forget. Franco Colapinto stopped on track to trigger the morning's only red flag and managed just 28 laps, the fewest of any driver. Aston Martin, already behind after arriving late to Barcelona, saw Lance Stroll manage only 33 laps before a data anomaly with the new Honda power unit ended his running early. Fernando Alonso has already indicated the team expects to start the season on the back foot, and the growing mileage deficit does nothing to dispel that concern.
## The bigger picture
Here's what I kept coming back to as the sun set on Day 1.
These cars are roughly six seconds off 2025 pole pace at this track. That's a massive delta. The reduced downforce, lighter weight, and completely revised power units have created machines that drivers are still learning to trust. There were lock-ups aplenty, off-track excursions at Turn 10, and plenty of moments where even the best in the world looked like they were wrestling their cars rather than driving them.
That's normal for the first day of a new regulatory era. But it also means the learning curve from here to Melbourne is going to be steep and uneven.
The teams that figure out the energy management puzzle fastest, that find the right balance between aerodynamic grip and electrical deployment, are going to have a significant early advantage. Right now, Red Bull looks like they might already be a step ahead in that understanding.
Five more days of testing will tell us whether that holds.
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*Testing continues on Thursday in Bahrain. Full Day 2 coverage coming soon.*