Lando Norris lived up to his billing as world-championship favourite by setting the fastest time on the opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

In an afternoon session that was paused for an hour after a power cut plunged the garages and paddock into darkness, the McLaren man pipped his fellow Brit George Russell, of Mercedes, to top spot by 0.157sec.

The 25-year-old has admitted he must ‘get my elbows out’ when the season starts in Melbourne on March 16, having missed out on the title last year to the combative Max Verstappen despite demonstrating impressive speed.

Red Bull’s Verstappen was third quickest on the day, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth best after he took over driving duties from Lewis Hamilton, who was 13th fastest on his first publicly timed outing in the red car since his £50m-a-year move from Mercedes.