The Bahrain GP weekend was a showcase of McLaren dominance.
How the Bahrain GP Went
McLaren dominated the Bahrain GP. Oscar Piastri led the weekend from Free Practice 2 onwards, managing strategy and pressure with composure. However, that was not all the weekend had to offer. While the Scuderia are a far cry from where they want to be, Ferrari’s upgrades worked as Leclerc and Hamilton ended the weekend fourth and fifth, respectively.
Friday FP1: An Unrepresentative Session
Free Practice 1 in Bahrain kicked off the race weekend, with track temperatures far removed from the cooler conditions experienced in Japan just days earlier.
Lando Norris set the pace for McLaren with a time of 1.33.204s, leading the way from Pierre Gasly in the Alpine and Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari.
FP1 also saw six rookie drivers take to the track as part of the mandatory young driver allocation. Among them were Ayumu Iwasa for Red Bull, Dino Beganovic for Ferrari, Fred Vesti for Mercedes, Felipe Drugovich for Aston Martin, Ryo Hirakawa for Haas, and Luke Browning for Williams.
Grip proved slippery in the early running, with several drivers struggling to find balance on the hard and medium compounds. Nevertheless, times gradually began to fall, and by the halfway point, Alex Albon briefly led for Williams with a 1.35.180s.
When the field moved onto soft tyres in the latter stages, the leaderboard altered. Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto momentarily went fastest, only to be dropped down the timesheet by teammate Nico Hülkenberg.
But it was Norris who ultimately dominated FP1 of the Bahrain GP with his 1.33.204s, proving enough to keep him clear of Gasly by just over two-tenths. Hamilton joined them in the top three, leaving his soft tyre run until later.
Albon clung to fourth despite reporting a power issue late on, while Esteban Ocon took fifth for Haas and Hülkenberg ended up sixth. Alpine’s Jack Doohan impressed in seventh, ahead of Lawson, Tsunoda, and Oscar Piastri, who rounded out the top ten for McLaren.
Behind the top ten, Bortoleto, Hadjar, Browning, and Beganovic filled the midfield spots, with Drugovich and Stroll next up for Aston Martin. Hirakawa, Vesti, and Iwasa followed, while Antonelli, plagued by mechanical issues, brought up the rear without a representative time.
Friday FP2: McLaren Domination
Free Practice 2 in Bahrain offered the first glimpse of competitive pace in representative conditions. McLaren dominated once again, this time with Piastri leading the charge. The Australian went quickest with a 1.30.505s, narrowly ahead of teammate Norris.
Unlike FP1, all 20 drivers were back in action. They looked to understand the track in its cooler state. Tyre strategies were mixed early on, with teams running combinations of soft, medium, and hard compounds to gather data for qualifying and long-run simulations.
Russell initially led the way for Mercedes on soft tyres. However, once McLaren joined the soft-tyre runs, they immediately went to the top, Piastri setting a 1.30.505s, with Norris just 0.154s behind. The pair were comfortably clear of the rest of the field, underlining McLaren’s strong lap pace.
Russell held onto third, half a second back, with Leclerc in fourth for Ferrari and teammate Antonelli continuing to impress in fifth.
Red Bull’s Friday issues continued, with Verstappen enduring a rough session. The Dutchman first reported a jumping car, then locked up at Turn 10. He later flagged brake issues.
It was not a smooth hour for Aston Martin either. Alonso was forced back to the garage early due to a steering wheel issue. Though he rejoined later, he completed fewer than 20 laps and finished outside the top 15.
Behind the front-runners, Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar was sixth fastest, ahead of Verstappen in seventh. Hamilton was eighth, followed by Bearman and the two Williams drivers completing the top 12.
Bortoleto made a notable jump during his soft-tyre run to take 13th, ahead of Doohan’s Alpine. Alonso was left 15th, with Ocon just behind in the Haas. Gasly had a quiet session in 17th, while Tsunoda continued adapting to the RB21 in 18th.
Stroll and Hülkenberg rounded out the order, each seemingly focused on longer run plans.
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Saturday FP3: McLaren Domination Continues
McLaren continued to dominate the timesheets at the Bahrain GP, as Piastri once again dominated in the final practice session before qualifying. The Australian delivered a lap of 1.31.646s. He was over six-tenths clear of teammate Norris, reaffirming the team’s lead.
The session occurred in the afternoon, with track grip levels proving tricky again. As the session began, only Bearman ventured out early on hard tyres, while others remained in the garage waiting for better track evolution.
Gradually, the session picked up the pace. Ferrari sent both Leclerc and Hamilton out on softs early, while Alpine opted for mediums, a move which proved to be a mistake.
Halfway through the hour, Piastri went four-tenths faster than Norris with an early soft-tyre lap, going four-tenths faster than Norris.
The session was briefly interrupted when Hülkenberg brought out the yellow flags, going into anti-stall and pulling up at Turn 8 in his Kick Sauber. A short Virtual Safety Car followed, after which Verstappen managed to jump up to second with a lap that included a wide moment.
Drama also did not evade Ferrari. Leclerc’s SF-25 shed a wing mirror mid-run.
As final runs came in during the closing stages, the order took shape. Once again, it was Piastri on top. Norris slotted into second, 0.668s behind, while Leclerc was the only other driver within a second of Piastri, securing third for Ferrari.
Saturday Qualifying: Piastri Pole as Norris Fell Behind
McLaren picked up where they left off in practice at the Bahrain GP, with Norris going quickest in Q1 thanks to a 1.31.107s lap, narrowly ahead of teammate Piastri. Verstappen had a shaky start, running wide multiple times and complaining over the radio that something felt wrong with his car. He eventually salvaged a spot in Q2, as did teammate Tsunoda after a narrow escape in 14th.
Q1 Eliminations: Alex Albon (P16), Liam Lawson (P17), Gabriel Bortoleto (P18), Lance Stroll (P19), and Ollie Bearman (P20).
Q2 halted almost immediately due to a crash for Ocon, who lost control of his Haas at Turn 2. Once resumed, McLaren once again dominated, with Piastri setting a 1.30.454s and Norris just a tenth behind. The pair were half a second clear of the field, reaffirming their strong one-lap pace.
Gasly later jumped to third, while the Mercedes duo Russell and Antonelli rounded out the top five. However, drivers were later penalised for procedural infringements at the pit exit.
Q2 Eliminations: Jack Doohan (P11), Isack Hadjar (P12), Fernando Alonso (P13), Esteban Ocon (P14 – due to his crash), and Nico Hulkenberg (P15 – Q2 times deleted).
Q3 delivered a thrilling fight for pole. Piastri laid down a provisional best early on but was briefly displaced as Russell, Leclerc, and Antonelli launched strong laps. However, the Australian responded with a lap of 1.29.841s to secure his first pole of the season.
Russell and Leclerc rounded out the top three before grid penalties shuffled positions, while Gasly achieved P5 in the Alpine. Norris, unable to improve on his final run, could only manage sixth. Verstappen, still struggling with brake issues, salvaged seventh. Sainz, Hamilton, and Tsunoda claimed the final three places.
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A Chaotic Bahrain GP
At lights out, Russell briefly threatened Piastri into Turn 1, but the Australian held firm to maintain the lead. Norris, however, was quickly on the back foot after being deemed out of position in his grid slot. He served his penalty during an early pit stop for medium tyres and rejoined behind Russell in a fight for second.
Piastri stopped one lap after Russell, opting for mediums and comfortably rejoined ahead to retain control of the race.
Ferrari, meanwhile, started both of their drivers on the medium compound, contrasting with most of the field’s softs. By lap 17, both Ferraris had switched to fresh mediums as their strategic approach began.
Verstappen struggled for pace on his hard tyres, losing positions to Antonelli and Hamilton. As the race progressed, Leclerc closed in on Norris and made a move stick on lap 25 to take third place. Hamilton, also on mediums, began making moves of his own, overtaking Antonelli and Ocon with relative ease.
The Dutchman finally gave up on his hards by lap 27, pitting for mediums. Any progress he hoped to make briefly stalled when the safety car came out on lap 32 after contact by Tsunda and Sainz.
Post-Safety Car
Much of the field chose to pit during the safety car, with the tyre strategy changing. McLaren stuck with mediums, Ferrari committed to hards, and Mercedes gambled on softs. At the restart on lap 36, Russell tried to pressurise Piastri but could not find a way past.
Further back, Norris gave the position back to Hamilton after an off-track overtake but quickly regrouped and retook the place at Turn 4. His pursuit of Leclerc resumed, and after a few laps of pressure, Norris finally made a move to stick around the outside at Turn 4 to reclaim third place.
In the closing stages of the Bahrain GP, Norris set his sights on Russell and mounted a late charge for second, but despite his best efforts, he could not make the move and had to settle for third.
Leclerc and Hamilton bounced back for fourth and fifth place for Ferrari. The Scuderia will have plenty to take forward after this weekend.
Gasly showed solid pace in the Alpine and finished seventh after being overtaken by Verstappen in the final laps, with the Dutchman salvaging sixth after a poor race.
Haas celebrated a double points finish, thanks to a well-executed strategy that saw Ocon and Bearman finish eighth and 10th, respectively. Tsunoda scored his first points of the season, placing ninth.
However, it was Piastri who claimed his second victory of the season and, in turn, became the first repeat winner of the 2025 F1 campaign with a dominant drive in Bahrain.
OSCAR ON POINT!!! 🫵
PIASTRI WINS THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 🎉#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/yQxyddUfPT
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2025
Bahrain GP Results
RACE CLASSIFICATION (LAP 57/57)
The full finishing order 👇#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/vcFw0nEzxt
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2025
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Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Nordphoto
Recording Date: 13.04.2025
