Bahrain Grand Prix

Image credit to F1.com

Winners and Losers 

Bahrain Grand Prix  

RESULTS:                                                                    

P1- Oscar Piastri (25 points)                  

P2- George Russell (18 points)                                       

P3- Lando Norris (15 points)

P4- Charles Leclerc (12 points)

P5- Lewis Hamilton (10 points)

P6- Max Verstappen (8 points)

P7- Pierre Gasly (6 points)

P8- Esteban Ocon (4 points)

P9- Yuki Tsunoda (2 points)

P10- Oliver Bearman (1 point)

P11- Kimi Antonelli

P12- Alexander Albon

P13- Isack Hadjar

P14- Jack Doohan

P15- Fernando Alonso

P16- Liam Lawson

P17- Lance Stroll

P18- Gabriel Bortoletto

DNF- Carlos Sainz

DSQ- Nico Hulkenberg

CONSTRUCTORS STANDINGS:

P1- Lando Norris (77 points)

P2- Oscar Piastri (74 points)

P3- Max Verstappen (69 points)

P4- George Russell (63 points)

P5- Charles Leclerc (32 points) 

P6- Kimi Antonelli (30 points)

P7- Lewis Hamilton (25 points)

P8- Alexander Albon (18 points)

P9- Esteban Ocon (14 points)

P10- Lance Stroll (10 points) 

P11- Pierre Gasly (6 points)

P12- Nico Hulkenberg (6 points) 

P13- Oliver Bearman (6 points)

P14- Yuki Tsunoda (5 points)

P15- Isak Hadjar (4 points)

P16- Carlos Sainz (1 point)

P17- Fernando Alonso (0 points)

P18- Liam Lawson (0 points)

P19- Jack Doohan (0 points)

P20- Gabriel Bortoleto (0 points) 

The Bahrain Grand Prix was much more action packed than what we saw in Suzuka, from McLaren securing victory in Bahrain at the hands of Oscar Piastri, to being not a very rosy race for some drivers. We take a look at Lawrence Barretto’s picks on who his winners and losers are from the desert race at the Bahrain International Circuit.

WINNER: OSCAR PIASTRI

Oscar Piastri gave McLaren their first pole position that played host to one of their home races-then followed with a textbook drive to their first victory. McLaren had only led 8 laps previously around Bahrain. It was the Aussie’s second victory in three races, and his fourth victory in his Formula One career. Piastri also becomes the first repeat winner in 2025, with his victory of 15.499s becoming the largest winning margin of the season so far. This all means that the 24 year old has all the confidence he needs as he creeps to being just three points behind teammate Lando Norris in the Drivers’ Championship. It certainly seems that we are in for a ride with the close margin in the 2025 World Driver’s Championship. 

LOSER: LANDO NORRIS

Norris looked to be in a world of pain throughout the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, with the Brit at a loss of words to explain why he and his McLaren just weren’t “clicking”. It ultimately led to a scrappy qualifying session, leaving him sixth on the grid for the race. While he did gain 3 places on the first lap for only the second time in the last 28 races, Lando wasn’t clinical and consistent enough thereafter. His terribly unfortunate jump start which earned him a 5-second-penalty from the FIA, hindered his chances of redemption further. 

He did rescue third with a sublime pass on Charles Leclerc -meaning Norris still leads the championship but only by a pinch of salt- but as his teammate Piastri showed, it could’ve been so much better.

WINNER: HAAS

Haas were left disheartened after Saturday's qualifying session, with rookie Oliver Bearman qualifying P20 on the grid and teammate Esteban Ocon crashing in Q2 after a mistake he takes full responsibility for. But then on Sunday things took a dramatic turn, with Esteban Ocon battling to take eighth place and Oliver Bearman making up a phenomenal 10 positions to sneak the final point in tenth place. This marks Bearman's third consecutive points finish and the second time this season Haas have scored points with both cars to put them P5 in the constructors standings.

LOSER: MAX VERSTAPPEN

As Max Verstappen put it to Lawrence Barretto in the pen “everything basically went wrong” with the four-time world champion ending up sixth in the grand prix, making it his lowest finish of the season so far. Max Verstappen’s pit stops were also the slowest of the season, with the first pit stop having issues with the traffic light system followed by the second pit stop being slow due to a stuck front right tyre. Max Verstappen had a poor start to the race, as he struggled with overheating the rear tyres. He then was unable to get the hard tyre up to temperature, but that didn’t stop Max from fighting until the bitter end of the race; with him snatching sixth place from Pierre Gasly on the final lap to stay within eight points of the drivers championship lead.

WINNER: YUKI TSUNODA

Yuki Tsunoda’s weekend got off to a bumpy start as he was unable to get a clean lap on the soft tyres all throughout FP2 and FP3. Qualifying was also a stressful one for Tsunoda, as he was desperate for a good run under pressure in both Q1 and Q2 to make it through - but ultimately he delivered and got a spot inside the top 10 for the race. The race was a particularly tricky one but Yuki Tsunoda kept his cool, especially in the heat of battle, and managed to maintain his tyres very well to execute a P9 finish. This is Yuki Tsunodas best result of the season and also secured his first points in the Red Bull car in 2025. It was also Red Bull’s best result with the second seat since Sergio Perez when he took seventh all the way back in Austin last year.

LOSER: ASTON MARTIN

This was a miserable weekend for the Aston Martin team, with both cars lacking pace on all three compound tyres. The safety car was detrimental for their finishing positions - but both cars were never in the running for points: with Fernando Alonso finishing 15th and Lance Stroll finishing 17th. This is Aston Martin’s second successive Grand Prix weekend without any points, and leaves them with plenty to do in order to get their season back on track.

WINNER: GEORGE RUSSELL

George Russell managed “all sorts of failures” and managed to hold off a stern threat from Lando Norris during the Bahrain Grand Prix to take a respectable second place. Not only was George Russell’s best finish in Bahrain but also his best finish of this year so far. To top it all off it’s also his 15th consecutive points finish (the latter is the best run of his career). It now leaves Russell fourth in the drivers championship just 14 points off the lead.

LOSER: WILLIAMS

It’s safe to say that Williams had a tricky weekend at best. Carlos Sainz picking up sidepod damage was the sucker punch to end his Bahrain Grand Prix, while Alex Albon only managed 12th, due to William’s willing to do a double stack under the safety car which led to Albon losing ground. This was certainly unfortunate for the Grove based team, after the Japanese Grand Prix showed a glimmer of progress and hope. 

WINNER: PIERRE GASLY

Pierre Gasly was sensational all weekend in Bahrain, as he made a statement start in FP1 placing P2. The Frenchman qualified fifth for the race, which became a fourth place start after Kimi Antonelli got a penalty for a pit lane infringement. Gasly drove an amazing race to fight in the main pack, but unfortunately lost a lot of time due to the safety car - which meant Verstappen could close the gap and snatch P6 on the final lap. But still, P7 was a well deserved reward and gave Alpine their first points of the season to lift them above Kick Sauber into ninth in the Constructors Championship.

LOSER: JACK DOOHAN

Despite Doohan’s most outstanding qualifying result of his rookie season, the race didn’t convert into some much needed points for Alpine. The Australian was very competitive throughout practice - and although he missed out on Q3, P11 was Doohan’s best starting position of the year. The Alpine driver competed well in the first two stints on the soft and medium tyres to put him ninth. However, after switching to the hard tyres, he was left exposed to those who pitted for fresh tyres under the safety car. Once he lost one place, it triggered a fall that dropped him out of contention for points to an eventful P14. The wait for Doohan’s first points in Formula One continues.

And so, Round 4 comes to an end:  the Bahrain Grand Prix had a plethora of action up and down the grid. Tensions for the Drivers and Constructors Championship continue as we head to Round 5 of the Formula One calendar. We will see what treasures Jeddah produces for us this weekend! 

Edited by: Evelyn Gibson and Alice Seager ©️ Alice Seager 2025