The 2025 F1 pre-season testing wrapped up early on Friday at the Bahrain International Circuit, with George Russell setting the fastest lap on the final day. The Briton, set to take over as the lead driver of Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton’s departure, edged out Max Verstappen by just 0.021s to top the timesheets.
While Russell stole the spotlight on the final day, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz set the benchmark on the previous two days. Consequently, just like in past seasons, the 2025 Formula 1 campaign is shaping up to be a nail-biter, with more than three teams hinting at a serious challenge for the world championship title.
Therefore, here are some of the key takeaways from the three-day pre-season testing, including the most successful and the least successful team.
Are the 2025 F1 cars faster?
While the cars were relatively slow on the opening day, Carlos Sainz stormed his way to the top of the pile on day 2 with an impressive 1:29.348 – just 0.17s off the fastest lap of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, set by Charles Leclerc during the second part of the qualifying session.
Day 3 ✅
The final day of #F1Testing is done and dusted and the classification is in… 👇#F1 pic.twitter.com/GI83UpRC8F
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 28, 2025
This sparked speculation about whether a well-developed 2025 challenger could comfortably surpass that benchmark during the upcoming race weekend in Bahrain next month, making it the fastest Formula 1 car of the latest era. Going by early signs, the 2025 cars could end up being faster than last year’s.
However, the reality is that several other factors played their part in creating a rapid day for the drivers. One major factor was the track and air temperature. Unlike in March, the 2025 pre-season testing experienced unseasonal weather, with cooler temperatures, chilly winds, and rainy conditions.
And these factors likely made the cars appear faster. However, when they return to Bahrain next month for the Grand Prix, lap times may drop.
Williams led the midfield pack with stellar F1 testing
Williams turned out to be the biggest surprise of the pre-season testing this week. Against the odds, the British outfit looked far more confident than in the past years and managed to produce rather strong performances on all three days.
🏁| Now that testing is over let’s have a look at the overall results across all 3 days!
Sainz was fastest but closely followed by the top teams!#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/iQZ7bE2zPy
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 28, 2025
While Sainz shone on the initial couple of days – securing P5 on day 1 and setting the benchmark on day 2 – Alexander Albon recorded impressive lap times on the final day, eventually securing the third-fastest lap of the day.
Furthermore, Sainz spent the entire day 2 on the track and eventually recorded a whopping 126 laps. A similar trend followed with Albon on the final day, except the young Briton took his running up a notch and completed 136 laps. Overall, Williams is looking all set to return to the top of the midfield pack this season, but the big question is: Can they maintain this momentum throughout the campaign?
Is McLaren hiding its true pace?
The word is ‘sandbagging’, a term that was coined in the previous decade, thanks to Mercedes’ deliberate attempts to deceive its rivals, Ferrari and Red Bull. However, was McLaren engaging in a similar strategy during pre-season testing?
Quick summaries post-testing with @OscarPiastri 🤳 pic.twitter.com/GW8xmoyYqW
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 28, 2025
After winning the constructors’ championship against all the odds last year, McLaren had been quiet throughout the three-day outing in Bahrain. Norris did briefly make the headlines on the opening day, but neither he nor Oscar Piastri ever did anything marginally noticeable after that.
Several reports hinted that Norris wasn’t pushing his car to its limits during testing, leaving us to wonder: Should we be keeping a close eye on McLaren at the upcoming Australian Grand Prix? Is McLaren hiding something beneath its 2025 challenger?
Pain for Haas & Kick, Gain for Ferrari & Mercedes
Ferrari enjoyed an eventful three days at the Bahrain International Circuit, with solid short and long runs by both Leclerc and Hamilton. Both drivers looked extremely comfortable behind the wheel, and the seven-time world champion, in particular, looked at home with the revamped car.
While Ferrari needs to make notable improvements in its long-run pace, its straight-line speed has been impressively competitive, and 2025 could very well be the year the Tifosi have been dreaming of. The same applies to Mercedes, who has made a step forward in its development from last year.
Day 3 ✅
The final day of #F1Testing is done and dusted and the classification is in… 👇#F1 pic.twitter.com/GI83UpRC8F
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 28, 2025
Both drivers enjoyed a fair bit of time on the top of the leaderboard – Antonelli claimed the fastest lap in the opening session of day 1, while Russell set the benchmark lap on day 3, bringing pre-season testing to a close.
On the other side of the story were Haas and Kick Sauber. Both teams failed to make any significant improvement to their 2025 challengers and visibly struggled with pace against the rest of the mid-field teams. Coincidentally, both teams have new driver lineups, making it all the more challenging to get up to speed right away.
“It fell off…” 😶🌫️
Ollie Bearman responds to the issue @HaasF1Team encountered today when their engine cover came off during running 🏎️#F1Testing #F1 pic.twitter.com/DBcgEFHEp6
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 28, 2025
Therefore, with enough running over the last three days, can Kick and Haas make a comeback for the opening race weekend in Melbourne?
