SAKHIR, Bahrain — Lando Norris was fastest and seven-time series champion Lewis Hamilton was 13th as Formula 1 teams had to deal with a power outage that disrupted preseason testing Wednesday.
In an early sign favoring Norris’ bid to beat four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, the McLaren driver was fastest, by less than a second (.157) over Mercedes’ George Russell. Verstappen was third fastest, and Hamilton’s new Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc ranked fourth.
The afternoon session was suspended for just more than an hour when an electrical failure plunged pit lane garages into darkness and disabled floodlights around the track. An hour of the lost time was added on to the end of the day.
The day was split into two sessions, with 10 drivers on track in each, and Hamilton was fifth fastest in the morning — when times were generally slower — while his replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, posted the fastest time. The 18-year-old Italian rookie was seventh fastest overall for the day.
Times in testing often don’t reflect a driver or car’s true pace because of different strategies.