The Bahrain International Circuit was alive with the sound of Formula 1 engines on Monday morning as Aston Martin and Haas rolled out their 2025 challengers for crucial shakedown runs.
With just two days until the official start of pre-season at Sakhir, on Wednesday, both teams seized the chance to put their new machines – the AMR25 and VF-25 – through their paces.
For Aston Martin, it’s a first step toward redemption after a disappointing 2024, while Haas will be looking to build on the momentum it enjoyed – albeit inconsistently – last year.
Aston Martin’s AMR25: A New Beast Awakens
Aston Martin’s 2025 season got real when Lance Stroll fired up the AMR25 for its debut laps. Fresh off a digital reveal on Sunday that had fans buzzing, the Silverstone squad brought their “close to 100 per cent new” car to life.
After Team Silverstone showed off its slightly revised livery at last week’s F1 75 launch event, Monday was the first run for a machine crafted to ditch the unpredictable quirks of its predecessor for something smoother and more driver-friendly.
Stroll, now in his ninth F1 season and seventh with the team, took the initial stint before handing the keys to two-time champ Fernando Alonso. With pre-season testing looming, every kilometer of this 200-kilometer filming day was gold dust for fine-tuning their hopes of climbing back up the grid.
Haas and Bearman: Rookie Confidence Meets the VF-25
Over at Haas, the VF-25 hummed into action with Oliver Bearman behind the wheel, building on teammate Esteban Ocon’s earlier shakedown last week at Silverstone.
Bearman’s restricted Bahrain run was a chance to shake down the car and his nerves ahead of a grueling 24-race rookie campaign.
“I’m quite certain that I feel confident heading into round one of what I can do, how comfortable I am in F1 at this stage,” commented the 19-year-old charger, quoted by Motorsport Week.
©Haas
With three 2024race starts under his belt, Bearman is not your average rookie, and he knows it.
“I’ve had a good amount of mileage for a rookie, lots of TPC but also lots of race weekends as well which is very different,” he explained.
“Race weekends are unique and different type of pressure to running on track by yourself in TPC. So to get that experience has been really invaluable.”
“Now I’m just excited to get 24 of them [races] and really build up and gain experience and really be able to build from it.
“Because, my three races, they had a pretty uncertain length of time in between. At least I know exactly what my calendar is going to look like this year.”
©Haas
For Bearman, Bahrain was less a warm-up and more a launchpad.
These shakedowns aren’t just for show – F1’s tight 200-kilometer filming day limit means every lap is a chance to spot glitches and dial in setups before pre-season testing kicks off in earnest on Wednesday.
Tuesday is set to keep Sakhir buzzing, with Mercedes and Bull slated to join the party.
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