Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the opening hour of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain on the opening day. The Monegasque racer set the benchmark time of 1:35.953, almost two seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel, albeit with teams focussing on early installation laps.
Hour 1: Bahrain F1 Testing Times
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C. Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:35.953 | 13 | |
| 2 | S. Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:37.945 | 1.992 | 12 |
| 3 | S. Perez | Red Bull | 1:37.950 | 1.997 | 16 |
| 4 | G. Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:39.054 | 3.101 | 13 |
| 5 | P. Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:40.366 | 4.413 | 15 |
| 6 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:40.605 | 4.652 | 16 |
| 7 | A. Albon | Williams | No Time | – | 6 |
| 8 | L. Norris | McLaren | No Time | – | 4 |
Could this be Ferrari’s year? They sure look good…