F1 Preseason: Antonelli nips Lawson on AM of Day 1 in Bahrain

Mercedes Italian F1 rookie Kimi Antonelli turned a lap of 1m31.428s in the W16 to top the morning test session on the first day of F1 Preseason Testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Liam Lawson was 2nd fastest in the #30 Red Bull RB21, 0.132s behind Antonelli. Lawson did have a bit of excitement with a little over 1-hour to run of the 4-hour session when he spun but collected it up, never leaving the tarmac.

With all the teams running full race distances to make sure their new cars have no mechanical or electrical issues, Alex Albon was 3rd fastest for Williams, 0.145s behind Antonelli.

Lawson and Albon were the only drivers to run half the session on the hard Pirelli rubber.

Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda was 4th quick, 0.182s behind Antonelli’s Mercedes, while Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top-5 in his #44 Ferrari, 0.406s behind Antonelli.

Tsunoda and Antonelli both managed a session high 78 laps, with Oliver Bearman on 72 and Hamilton on 70.

All 10 teams are swapping drivers between sessions, so we will get a look at a whole new batch of talent in the afternoon, and the sun will set as well so they will have representative conditions to play with too.

2025 F1 Preseason Testing Day 1 Morning Results