Overview
- Lando Norris logged a 1:33.453 in Thursday’s morning session, shaving six thousandths off George Russell’s Wednesday best, with Max Verstappen close on 1:33.584.
- Ferrari trialled a rear wing that rotates 180 degrees in straight‑line mode to cut drag, but Lewis Hamilton’s running stopped at five laps due to a small, undisclosed issue.
- Mercedes continued strong mileage as Russell completed 77 laps, while recent running has clustered Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull at the front without a clear favourite.
- Red Bull and Aston Martin have faced reliability setbacks in Bahrain testing, including a Red Bull water‑system problem for Isack Hadjar and an Aston Martin power‑unit issue for Fernando Alonso.
- The FIA is advancing a new compression‑ratio verification method that could start mid‑season following scrutiny of Mercedes’ power unit, after also trialling a revised race‑start procedure this week.