Last Updated on February 28 2025, 11:57 am
F1 pre-season testing ends with mixed fortunes for teams and drivers – On the final day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, teams and drivers are making final adjustments before heading to Melbourne for the start of the 2025 Formula One season. The first two days at the Sakhir International Circuit were largely trouble-free, with teams enjoying high reliability and minimal disruption. A power outage on day one caused a minor delay in the afternoon session, while rain briefly interrupted action on day two. However, these were minor inconveniences in an otherwise smooth test.
Lando Norris topped the timesheets on day one, demonstrating McLaren’s early season pace, while Carlos Sainz set the fastest lap for Williams on day two, knocking Lewis Hamilton off the top of the standings. Hamilton’s performance, which surpassed Ferrari’s best lap time of the 2024 test, indicated significant progress from the Maranello outfit.
McLaren looked particularly confident, with Norris completing an impressive race simulation on day two that put him a remarkable 12 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The data suggested that McLaren could be a major contender in the early rounds of the season.
However, not every team is entering the season with such optimism. Over at Sauber, new recruit Gabriel Bortoleto suffered a serious technical problem that left him visibly frustrated in the garage during the morning session on day three.
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Gabriel Bortoleto faces early problems with Sauber C45
Bortoleto, one of four rookies making their F1 debut in 2025, has been struggling to get to grips with the Sauber C45 during pre-season testing. The reigning Formula 2 champion is seen as a bright prospect for the future, but his experience in Bahrain has not been entirely smooth.
After a productive first two days, Bortoleto’s morning session on day three was interrupted by an apparent mechanical problem. Sky Sports’ Laura Winter spotted the young Brazilian looking visibly frustrated as he got out of his car in the Sauber garage. According to Winter, Bortoleto gave a noticeable “puff of the cheeks” while talking to Mattia Binotto, indicating his dissatisfaction with the situation.
“As you can see, the car is going up on the grandstands,” Winter reported from outside the Sauber garage. “But there is a lot going on at the moment. Gabriel Bortoleto is also over here, he was out of the car.
“He had a bit of a cheeky laugh when he was talking to Mattia Binotto about it. He was also in the garage a few moments ago. He just looks a little frustrated that he is out of the car at the moment. And I think for Sauber, if you look here, there’s clearly work going on at the front. There was also work going on at the back under the engine cover. There seems to be work being done all over the car, so maybe it is a comprehensive issue.”
Given Sauber’s underwhelming performance in 2024, the team would have hoped for a smooth testing period to build confidence ahead of the season. However, Bortoleto’s apparent frustration suggests that the C45 may still have fundamental reliability issues, leaving the Swiss team with a lot of work to do before Melbourne.
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High expectations for Bortoleto, but tough challenges ahead for 2025
Despite his early struggles, Bortoleto enters F1 with an impressive resume. The Brazilian joins an elite group of drivers – George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri – who have won both the Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships as rookies. His rapid rise through the junior ranks has led to high expectations, with many experts predicting that he has the potential to become a future world champion.
Alex Jacques, a respected F1 commentator, has described Bortoleto as a “special” talent with the ability to make a lasting impact in the sport. However, his debut season is expected to be a difficult one, given Sauber’s struggles in recent years.
The Hinwil-based outfit endured a miserable 2024 campaign, scoring just four points for the entire season. With rule changes looming for 2026 and the imminent arrival of Audi, Sauber is in a transitional phase. There is little expectation that the team will make significant progress in 2025, meaning Bortoleto’s rookie season could be an uphill battle.
Brazilian racing veteran Lucas di Grassi has been vocal in his support of Bortoleto’s talent, describing him as a “future champion”. However, he has also tempered expectations, warning that the 20-year-old is unlikely to “set the world on fire” in his first year with Sauber. Instead, Bortoleto will have to focus on maximising his performances in a midfield car and positioning himself as a key player when Audi takes control of the team in 2026.
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Sauber’s struggles could continue this season
The problem that plagued Bortoleto’s car in Bahrain could be an ominous sign for Sauber heading into the 2025 season. The team’s struggles last year were largely attributed to a lack of development and performance compared to its rivals. If reliability concerns persist, Sauber could once again find itself at the back of the grid.
Bortoleto’s reaction in the garage reflects the pressures of being a rookie in a struggling team. The Brazilian will have to balance his personal ambitions with the reality of Sauber’s limitations, ensuring that he remains focused on his long-term development rather than short-term frustrations.
With the first race of the season in Melbourne fast approaching, Sauber will be working around the clock to resolve any remaining issues with the C45. For Bortoleto, the goal will be to squeeze as much performance out of the car as possible while maintaining composure in what is expected to be a challenging debut campaign.
Looking ahead: A long season ahead for Bortoleto and Sauber?
Pre-season testing often provides only a partial glimpse into the true pecking order of the grid, but the signs from Bahrain suggest that Sauber are in for another tough year. While Bortoleto has the talent to make an impact in F1, the limitations of his car could prevent him from reaching his full potential in 2025.
When the lights go out in Melbourne, all eyes will be on Bortoleto to see how he copes with the adversity of racing for a struggling team. If he can overcome the challenges of his rookie season with resilience, he will be well placed to capitalise when Audi’s transformation of Sauber begins in earnest in 2026.
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Of course testing is just testing and teams run different levels of fuel together with different power unit settings, yet there are aspects of the various kinds of runs the teams choose to make which give a much firmer kind of data.
Red Bull were handicapped by a water pressure problem which saw Liam Lawson miss out on some of the track time on day 2. Further, the team did not perform any long run race simulations which may be left to Max Verstappen tomorrow.
Yet in the afternoon McLaren (Lando Norris), Ferrari (Charles Leclerc) and Mercedes (Kimi Antonelli) all performed a number of race simulation long runs.
The headline from the data is that across a 57 lap Grand Prix in Bahrain, Lando Norris was an enormous 32.3 seconds ahead of Leclerc, with Antonelli a further 2.4 seconds behind.
The first thing to remember when considering Mercedes is that Kimi Antonelli being a rookie would probably be slower than George Russell and so the numbers from the Mercedes runs may well be…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
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