Bahrain Pre-Season Testing

We’ve just returned from Bahrain, where the Formula 1 teams did their only test last week ahead of the 2025 Melbourne season-opener next week.

People say testing is boring but if you know what to look for, it’s anything but. The laps are on track, and the body language of the cars needs to be analysed. But there is also the body language of the people – the teams, engineers and of course the drivers.

Will Ferrari compete with McLaren? What is Max Verstappen’s state of mind? Which of the five rookie drivers will shine? And does Aston Martin need to break glass and call in Adrian Newey to sort out its 2025 car?

James joins up with some of our colleagues from around the world to go under the skin of F1 testing and look at how various big stories are shaping up. Our man in Italy Roberto Chinchero has the inside line, Ronald Vording gives a Dutch perspective and there is analysis from Jake Boxall-Legge.

Remember to take part in the Global F1 Fan Survey which we are running together with F1. Make your voice heard about F1, what you like and what you’d like to change and who your favourite teams and drivers are. Go to https://fansurvey2025-formula1.motorsportnetwork.com/

Send your comments or questions to: @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or [email protected].

Fans of technical developments and analysis from the world of motorsport can get the latest updates dropped directly into their inboxes with the launch of Autosport’s Tech Tuesday newsletter.

The newsletter will bring readers all of the latest news and analysis on new development trends across Formula 1 and more, as Autosport aims to raise the bar of its technical output and comment pieces.

As implied by its name, the newsletter will be launched every Tuesday with a round-up of the biggest technical stories from the week, analysis pieces, and any other headlines from the world of racing that may be of interest to a technically minded audience.

Our technical coverage also extends to our YouTube channel, where we will be following the 2025 F1 update cycle and looking ahead to what the all-new 2026 regulations will bring in glorious technicolour.

It’s a hugely exciting time to be a follower of motorsport’s technical side, particularly as more championships move towards alternative forms of fuel and propulsion – sustainable and hydrogen fuels will no doubt form a cornerstone of racing series in the future, alongside electric power.

To keep up with that, your best bet is here: to sign up to receive the newsletter, please follow this link to get your fix of the latest technical content.

In the wake of Formula 1’s 2025 pre-season testing at Bahrain, suggestions were abound that a handful of teams suspected that their rivals had employed some form of “mini-DRS” on the straights.

Video footage emerged on social media of Mercedes’ rear wing appearing to tilt back at high speed. Other footage shared appeared to point at McLaren’s outboard slot gap expanding at high speed before closing up in the braking zone. Ferrari has also been suspected of using “mini-DRS” trickery in Bahrain.

Suspicions aside, evidence is – at best – circumstantial. In the case of the McLaren rear wing, it would be incredibly difficult to spot the purported mini-DRS unless one was being told what to look for. 

Mercedes’ tilting wing appears to be a little bit more visible and fits into the flexi-wing mould more than the mechanisms termed as mini-DRS, as the trailing edge leans back on the straight. 

Whether teams are suspicious about their rivals’ new rear wings or not is moot at this stage, as the new regulations governing more stringent flex tests do not come into force until the Australian Grand Prix. 

What the rules say

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Peter Fox – Getty Images

Firstly, it’s important to contextualise pre-season testing. It is run to effectively the same regulations as free practice at F1 weekends, in that the cars must be fully homologated – but are not necessarily subject to the legality requirements detailed in the regulations for qualifying and the race.

For example, running with aero rakes is permissible; these could never be run in the official grand prix sessions outside of practice. There is no scrutineering process at testing.

As such, the teams could theoretically run aero components that are in no way legal during sessions subject to the full gamut of technical regulations – as long as the crash structures have been approved in the FIA’s homologation testing.

With the limited remit of testing it would be folly to do so, although one could foresee an eventuality where an off-season rules change might require a team to conduct A/B testing to assess the difference between specifications.

Then there’s the new regulations governing flex tests and slot gap size. The rear wing mainplane may not flex more than 6mm in the direction of the load applied, and the upper flap cannot flex more than 7mm when load is applied horizontally. The trailing edge is even more strictly governed, with a maximum of 3mm of flex.

The minimum gap between the front and rear wing has also been changed. This has shrunk from 10-15mm to 9.4-13mm and, with DRS open, the upper boundary remains at 85mm. The regulations state there must only be two defined ‘modes’ – a DRS closed mode satisfying a defined value within that 9.4-13mm gap size, and the 85mm maximum slot size for DRS.

Article 3.10.10 in the 2025 technical regulations states that: “Except in the event of a DRS failure or the transitioning from one position into the other the DRS bodywork can have only 2 positions, such that the DRS Bodywork position must be the same before and after each state of deployment. The transition time between the 2 positions must be less than 400ms.”

Furthermore, the new rules (with an addendum at Article 3.15.17) states that the distance between the rear wing profiles and the non-DRS affected tip section on the upper element “must not vary more than 2mm” when two downward 750N forces are applied simultaneously to the rear wing profiles’ most forward section. 

Hence, it’s much more difficult to apply that mini-DRS logic, although not impossible.

What does it mean for the Australian Grand Prix?

Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Sauber F1 Team

At the moment, this all means nothing – teams are free to do what they want in testing, and everything stated at the moment is conjecture. That doesn’t mean that it won’t develop into anything further, but rival teams’ complaints are at this stage the equivalent of micturating into a hurricane.

The outcome of flex tests in Australia will ultimately define what happens next. Should all the wings pass, then there’s not much more that the FIA can do to govern the wings – it has created the boundaries, and the conditions under which those boundaries are monitored. 

If a team still manages to induce a “mini-DRS” effect that fits those boundaries, then they should be lauded. Of course, the rival teams won’t do that – they’ll be knocking on the stewards’ door with a dossier of materials with the hope that these are incriminating enough. And that’s fine too, that’s their job.

Either way, any conclusions about the “mini-DRS” concept or the further pursuit of flexi-wings will remain a storm in a teacup until the season actually begins. And, of course, we look forward to having the same conversation next season…

Testing was held in unusual conditions, so will the results be representative? – Oleg Karpov

On Thursday evening in Bahrain, a few hours after Lando Norris’ impressive long run, Andrea Stella was asked during his media briefing about whether McLaren will change its approach to celebrating success this year. Will it continue to do team photos after podiums as it has done in the past, or will it only do them after wins?

That McLaren will win races – and probably a lot of them – isn’t even in doubt after the Bahrain test.

But Stella, being Stella, didn’t seem as convinced as the media about McLaren’s form in relation to the competition, citing the unique conditions of this test, with temperatures being extremely low compared to what the teams usually face in Bahrain. And that, he suggested, could be masking some of the “traditional issues” McLaren has faced at this track in recent years. While we’re used to the McLaren boss playing down expectations, he’s got a good point. Any predictions about the pecking order at this stage are based on three days of running at one track – and in circumstances that the teams will almost certainly not face again this season, not even in Bahrain.

What the teams had to deal with was a cold track, a very abrasive asphalt, and a layout that above all demands good traction. Yes, McLaren certainly looked the strongest. And yes, it is encouraging for the team, which has previously struggled in Bahrain more than at most other tracks on the calendar.

However, we saw last year how the pecking order can vary from one race to the next, depending not only on the layout itself but also on the smoothness of the tarmac, the temperature and even the intensity and direction of wind. So while most of the analysis based on what we saw in Bahrain last week may be spot on, it may not be applicable to what we’ll see in Melbourne, China or even Bahrain when F1 returns there in April.

More predictable, but testing issues, so where does Red Bull really stand? – Jake Boxall-Legge

“It can’t be worse than last year,” Max Verstappen said of his new RB21 chariot during pre-season testing. There was more to it: he enjoyed his first time with the car, which he noted was “a big difference” to 2024’s capricious RB20. But it’s not the most glowing assessment: has his time working in the UK with Red Bull added a new penchant for British understatement, or is it simply damning with faint praise?

We’ve not really seen the full picture from Red Bull. Pre-season predictions swing from challenging McLaren from the get-go, to being nestled somewhere in the battle with Ferrari and Mercedes – that being said, we don’t really know where Ferrari and Mercedes are either – while messaging is also mixed from within the team.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Red Bull’s adviser Helmut Marko stated after the opening day that the RB21 is a much more predictable customer, while retaining its delicate touch in using the tyres, but issues seemed to crop up as time elapsed in the Bahraini desert; a water pressure issue enforced a pitlane lay-off on day two, and further teething problems led technical director Pierre Wache to conclude it was “not as smooth a test as we expected”. The team believes it can iron out the creases, but it doesn’t quite exude its usual confidence heading into Melbourne.

Just how ready is Liam Lawson? – Ben Hunt

If there is one word to sum up Liam Lawson’s pre-season F1 testing, it would probably be ‘underwhelming’ – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, his pace was lacking compared to that of Red Bull’s rivals, but the same can be said of his team-mate, Max Verstappen.

Red Bull put this down to a number of factors but mainly that the day it decided to put Lawson in the car, it rained so it opted to switch its plan for high-speed runs to long runs instead to check the car for general reliability over a race distance.

For Lawson’s part, he spoke about getting up to speed and his general consensus was that he was left feeling positive heading into the first race of the season. Red Bull reported that while Lawson was not as quick as his team-mate, his feedback at least correlated with Verstappen’s and they agree on the improvements required with the car.

Ultimately, it is too early to tell if the New Zealander is ready, but as we know too well, it is all about building a relationship with Verstappen and keeping both sides of the garage happy.

The fact that Lawson is not yet putting Verstappen under pressure, and that the two drivers are pushing in the same direction, bodes well for Lawson’s development and should allow him the luxury of some additional time before he finds his place in the team under more intense scrutiny.

How real is Williams’ pace in congested midfield fight? – Ronald Vording

On Friday night, Williams was mentioned as a positive surprise by many in the Bahrain paddock. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz showed pace over one lap, although everybody knows that lap times don’t say much in winter testing. Fuel loads and engine modes remain big unknowns, and therefore the question remains: were these glory runs to some extent or is Williams a real contender for the title ‘best of the rest’ behind the four top teams?

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

More important than flying laps are the long runs. Williams ranked sixth in them with an average deficit of 0.80s per lap compared to McLaren. It’s promising and with 395 laps completed the test has been productive as well. And still it remains difficult to predict if Williams can really surprise in 2025 or if it has simply shown a bit more than some of its rivals?

Exactly the opposite goes for Aston Martin. The Silverstone-based team is listed as one of the biggest disappointments, but is the team really as bad as it looked? Or did the conditions – with a disturbed run plan and Lance Stroll feeling ill – mask some potential of the AMR25? All these questions remain until Australia and make the F1 midfield for 2025 both extremely hard to predict.

Will Haas still possess its one-lap pace? – Mark Mann-Bryans

A casual viewer of pre-season testing would have occasionally scanned the timing sheets throughout the three days in Bahrain and, most likely, would have seen either Oliver Bearman or Esteban Ocon languishing towards the bottom.

The Haas strategy for large parts of the test was focused on long runs and race pace, something which echoes its approach at the same stage 12 months ago.

A rare opportunity for him to truly put his foot down, Ocon was able to put in a performance test towards the end of Friday and was a little over a second off the pace, albeit having run earlier than those who ultimately led the way. Bearman, meanwhile, put a new spin on the idea of ‘removing the covers’ of a new car as his final run of the test was truncated after his engine cover fell off and landed on the track as a visible crack also opened up along the side of his Haas.

All in all, Haas was not one of the teams to catch either the eye or the imagination in Bahrain and it remains to be seen where the US squad will slot into the pack heading to Melbourne – especially considering Nico Hulkenberg qualified fourth in Abu Dhabi (before dropping down the grid due to penalties) so the squad does have a lot to live up to.