Event
Technical images from Bahrain pre-season testing explained
by Samarth Kanal
2min read
Join Raceteq as we explore technical imagery from the 2025 Aramco Formula 1 pre-season test at Bahrain International Circuit, where all 10 teams evaluated their new cars on track.
The Formula 1 Aramco pre-season test took place in Bahrain from February 26-28, 2025, with all 20 drivers turning laps in their new machines in preparation for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Scroll down to view the most interesting technical imagery from the event.
Mercedes’s W16 sports a new nose among many other changes. The tip of this nose is attached to the mainplane, eliminating the slot gap underneath it. F1 cars can now have a hole in their nose to aid driver cooling - although this could also play a role in enhancing airflow downstream.
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Lando Norris’s McLaren MCL39 had a swathe of flow-vis paint on its right-rear corner. Flow-vis paint is used to show airflow structures as it dries when the driver laps the circuit. McLaren has adjusted its front suspension layout to control dive - when the front moves forward under braking load - by lowering suspension links.
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Haas arrived in Bahrain with a larger pitwall. The team stood out in recent seasons with a three-person pitwall - made smaller in 2023 for cost-saving reasons - but has doubled the size of its gantry for 2025.
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Carlos Sainz’s Williams FW47 F1 car sporting massive aerodynamic rakes - a series of sensors to measure airflow - across its front. Williams has notably changed its rear suspension to a pushrod configuration, mirroring engine and gearbox supplier Mercedes, for a narrower rear and better airflow to the rear.
Nico Hulkenberg at the wheel of the Sauber C45 with the right-hand side covered in orange flow-vis paint. The team is seeking progress after finishing 2024 at the bottom of the constructors’ championship table - before it transitions to Audi in 2026.
Ferrari’s garage in darkness as the power goes out at Bahrain International Circuit. This power cut cost an hour of track running that was added onto the end of the day. Teams scrambled to bring generators to their pit garages as the first day of testing was red-flagged…
Red Bull’s garage was lit up by those temporary generators, which provided valuable light. However, the generators also ensured that each team could continue backing up the copious data they were gathering from the track - as each local server only holds onto that data for a short period of time before it is deleted or overwritten.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly driving under the lights in Bahrain using the Pirelli C3 tyre, identified by yellow writing but a lack of a yellow band around its sidewall. Teams picked their allocation of tyre for the event and the C3 tyre (in the middle of Pirelli’s range from softest to hardest) was the most popular - it is the most used compound over the season. It will also be the qualifying tyre for the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix.