His first lap of the afternoon puts him 12th overall, 5.6s off Verstappen.
Alonso, Norris and Hamilton are now on track.
Just Bottas and Magnussen are in the pit lane.
De Vries and Leclerc join the track for the first time this afternoon.
Verstappen breaks the afternoon silence in the Red Bull.
An extended lunch break for a lot of the teams it seems.
No cars out on track yet.
Putting in those laps #F1Testingpic.twitter.com/qxAVsuESn2
— Crash F1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) February 23, 2023
Toto Wolff says George Russell reported no bouncing on the W14 this morning #F1#F1Testing
— Lewis Larkam (@Lewis_Larkam) February 23, 2023
Morning session is over - Verstappen on top for Red Bull.
VSC test is over. Into the final eight minutes of the morning session.
Looks like it's a test of the FIA's systems ahead of the season.
Russell Gasly
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 23, 2023
Our first testing tussle! #F1#F1Testingpic.twitter.com/y1iAWmBLyc
Verstappen remains on top, 0.3s ahead of Sainz.
Albon, Zhou and Russell complete the top five.
He finds nearly 0.3s to improve to a 1m32.959s.
Putting in those laps #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/qxAVsuESn2
— Crash F1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) February 23, 2023
We're now into the final hour of the first session in Bahrain.
It's not been the most exciting (testing never is...) but intriguing nonetheless.
Mercedes W14 Ferrari SF-23 #F1#F1Testingpic.twitter.com/7mDDB1zUCs
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 23, 2023
Albon has 51 laps on the board.
The fewest? Drugovich with 22.