Lando Norris topped the opening day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, despite proceedings being interrupted by an unexpected power outage.

The McLaren driver posted a 1m30.430s on C3 tires, finishing 0.157s ahead of George Russell and 0.25s in front of Max Verstappen. Norris's time came remarkably close to last year's fastest pre-season lap, falling just half a second short.

Testing was disrupted when a circuit-wide power failure caused a red flag with two hours remaining. The outage, caused by an external substation failure, plunged the track into darkness for over an hour. Officials extended the session by an hour to compensate for lost time.

Charles Leclerc placed fourth in Ferrari's new car, featuring notable upgrades including a new front suspension and longer wheelbase. His former teammate Carlos Sainz, now with Williams, impressed by finishing just 0.077s behind in fifth.

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli showed promise, leading the morning session before finishing seventh overall. Most teams completed over 100 laps despite driver changes at lunch, with only Aston Martin falling short at 88 laps.

Haas completed the most mileage with 160 laps, though both cars were notably off the pace, suggesting a focus on long-run testing. The team's drivers, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, finished at the bottom of the timing sheets.

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