Bahrain '25: Qualifying Recap

Q1

The evolving conditions of the Bahrain International Circuit have made this weekend pretty unpredictable, and it didn’t stop at qualifying on Saturday evening. Luckily for the drivers, the headwind pushed down towards the finish line on the main straight, so lap times would be improved if anything. The FIA have also introduced reduced rear tyre pressure from this session onward, which should help with the traction issues the drivers have been facing in free practice. 

Max’s troubles had only just begun in Q1, with a lock up (and going wide) on his first lap on track. The Red Bull driver responded with, “There’s something really wrong with the car”. 

With 5 minutes to go both Red Bull drivers had not set a single lap time, or in other words, it had to be a one lap wonder from both Yuki and Max. They both pulled through, but Max skilfully ran third fastest, only behind Hamilton and Norris. 

A painful DRS fault ruined Liam Lawson’s lap time, due to the function closing halfway down the straight. For an eager driver who has everything to prove at the moment, this setback couldn’t have come at a worse time. 

As always, there was huge disappointment from the other drivers eliminated from the rest of qualifying, but particularly with Oliver Bearman. He was 8 tenths behind his teammate Esteban Ocon, and will start in the last place (20th) on the grid. 

Q2

Yuki Tsunoda was out first and eager to redeem his messy Q1 start. He scraped into Q3 for the first time under his new Red Bull Racing team, going 10th fastest. Verstappen followed, but only managed 9th fastest above his teammate. 

Early into Q2, Ocon veered onto the curb at turn 2, smashing the back of his Haas into the barriers, and triggering a red flag. The driver confirmed he was okay, and fortunately the car didn’t take much damage. Ocon’s hopes of qualifying any higher had been quickly halted. The stewards cleared the area and sent out an estimated continue time. The two Mercedes were a little too keen to emerge back onto the track after the red flag period, and later received a 1 place grid penalty for the race. Both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell made it through to Q3, hoping to disrupt the consistency of the McLaren cars. 

It was a quick scramble to get through to Q3, where Gasly impressively ran fastest in the 2nd sector, and 3rd fastest overall. But it was Piastri that nabbed the fastest time, with Norris soon behind him. 

Alex Albon locked up in turn 4 and was disappointingly knocked out in Q2, with a Williams that seemed to have so much potential for this weekend. Luckily for the team, comfort in the car finally came for Carlos Sainz as his top 10 grid spot was confirmed. He managed to out-qualify his teammate for the first time this season, which must have been a positive boost looking on towards the Grand Prix. Joining Albon in elimination were Hulkenberg, Alonso, Doohan (who was 5th fastest in Q1), and Hadjar. 

Q3

McLaren were seemingly oozing with confidence, with no immediate rush to get out onto the track. Red Bull was another story however, presumably not wanting a repeat of the pressure of Q1. More critiques of the RB21 came from Max, stating, “My brakes are just terrible”. Straying from the track at turn 4 (an issue for many) resulted in a 0.39 second loss, and left him with the 7th place grid spot for the race. 

Russell and Antonelli were setting flying laps in Q3, and Mercedes have so far been the only constant contender to the hyped McLaren pace. Before their grid penalties, Russell showed his strengths with a 2nd place start, and the rookie Antonelli was a close 4th. Ferrari stuck their foot in the door when Charles Leclerc ran 3rd fastest, benefiting from the team’s latest updates. Lewis Hamilton less so, but things now seem to be looking up for the Scuderia. Their season has been full of ups and mostly downs, but their pace in qualifying has set them up nicely for a podium opportunity. 

Norris lost a lot of time in his first sector, and human error cost him a chance at matching his teammate’s Q3 speed. He was very tough on his 6th place finish in post-qualifying interviews, but who knows what the race will bring. Piastri (with no surprise) comfortably claimed pole for the second time in his F1 career. The McLaren owners in Bahrain must have been very happy with the Aussie driver’s efforts, and the result must make Lando Norris’ mistakes more bearable. 

Gasly pushed his Alpine to the very limit and made a space for himself amongst the big teams, running 5th fastest ahead of Lando Norris. The Mercedes grid penalties changed the order of the starting grid, moving Leclerc up to 2nd, and Gasly up to 4th. The interesting mix of drivers and teams confirmed in qualifying will definitely make for a captivating turn 1 entry on Sunday.

Photo credit: "Bahrain GP 2006 4" by reppuli is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.