Mercedes flex muscles again in Bahrain as Ferrari face first warning signs

The Mercedes driver had also been the busiest on track yesterday afternoon, once again clocking up strong mileage this morning with an impressive 77 laps completed.

Behind him was Lando Norris, who set the fastest time of the morning and also completed a strong lap tally with 72 laps. The same goes for Alexander Albon, who racked up 71 laps at the wheel of the FW48.

Among the frontrunners, Max Verstappen ended the morning on 56 laps, while Alonso’s AMR26 showed encouraging signs on the reliability front, completing 40 laps.

It was an unusual morning for the seven-time world champion, with the SF-26 stuck in the garage for most of the session due to technical issues that limited him to just five laps.

Below is the full classification of laps completed.

Norris, as previously reported, topped the timesheets during the morning session in Bahrain at the wheel of his MCL40, narrowly beating Verstappen and Russell.

The McLaren driver picked up where he had left off yesterday, setting the benchmark lap of 1:33.453 — just over a tenth faster than Verstappen. From that point on, the order at the front remained largely unchanged, as teams and drivers turned their attention to long-run programmes in preparation for the upcoming season.