2025 F1 Pre-Season Test Day 1: Winners and Losers

The 2025 F1 season has begun with Lando Norris topping the time sheets, just like he did in 2024. After an early stumble for McLaren, where the team was fixing a few things with the car early in the day, the second half gave the opportunity to the Brit to unleash what the car had, and by the looks of it, it's very good.

In P2, we had George Russell in his silver and black Mercedes, while Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc completed the top 4. With the 8 hours of running done and dusted at the F1 pre-season test, who would be satisfied with how the day went, and who would be a bit disappointed? Let's take a look.

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2025 F1 Pre-Season Test

Winner

F1 regulations

Trying not to jinx it for now, but the 2025 F1 regulations could just end up producing the best season in a while. The last season ended with not much separating the top 4 teams. It does appear that the same trend has continued for now, and the gap between these teams is still small enough to lead to variable results.

Loser

The Bahrain circuit

It's not a good look for a circuit if the power goes out all of a sudden and you lose valuable time. This is precisely what happened during the F1 pre-season test, as out of the blue, the power just went out. Fortunately for the circuit and the organizers as well, it didn't take long before everything was back up and running, but it could have been so much worse for everyone involved.

Winner

Ferrari and McLaren

It's almost anybody's guess right now in terms of which car is better, but it does appear that both McLaren and Ferrari have been able to bring a strong enough package once again. There was talk about 'innovation' from the British team and about 'changing 99% of the car' from the Italian team, but the fact that the changes have not led the team astray is an important step.

It took some time for both the teams to weed out a few things but ultimately it does appear that the cars are precisely where they ended the previous season, at the sharp end of the grid.

Loser

Red Bull

It's tricky to essentially put Red Bull in the loser column because the team is more or less where it was in 2024, i.e., a few tenths behind the benchmark. In some ways, it is a positive for Max Verstappen as well, as with the grid closed up to the extent that it is right now, the car would still be competitive enough for the driver to put up a challenge for the F1 championship.

With that being said, going from a position where this team dominated these regulations, this is certainly a step down.

Winner

Jack Doohan

Of course, there is a lack of data when it comes to the kind of fuel loads and engine modes that Alpine was running, but one thing that was obvious in all of this was that Jack Doohan was more or less comfortable in the car and left a decent impression. It obviously needs to be seen what the comparisons would ultimately be when he runs alongside Pierre Gasly, but for now, the driver had a decent stint and would be hoping to make an impression in his home F1 race.

Loser

Lewis Hamilton

It was expected to be a bit of a struggle for Lewis Hamilton to get comfortable in his new home. Moving F1 teams is not easy, especially when you're 40 years of age. But the struggle was too evident on the first day. The Ferrari looked like a completely different beast in the hands of the 7x world champion as compared to when Charles Leclerc drove it later in the day.

The next two days are crucial for the driver, and it would be interesting to see how he does tomorrow.