Bahrain '25: Race Recap

The night sky of the Bahrain International Circuit set the scene for the 4th installation of the 2025 F1 season. The insanity started from the get go, as the pole sitter Oscar Piastri tore away from the pack immediately. George Russell had a great start as he went wheel to wheel with Charles Leclerc, trying to regain the place he lost from his qualifying penalty. Something ominous and orange was appearing behind them however, as by the apex of turn 1 Lando Norris was battling Leclerc for 3rd. On only the 1st lap, Norris was up 3 places from 6th. It was also a brilliant start from the back of the grid, as Ollie Bearman made his way from P20 to P15. 

A pretty poetic moment happened when Carlos Sainz overtook his old team with Lewis Hamilton at the helm. It didn’t last for long however, as the frequent DRS opportunities allowed the world champion to regain the position. 

Poor positioning in his grid box meant a looming 5 second penalty for Lando Norris, which he served in the pits on lap 11. Russell’s good pace continued after his first pit stop as he came out just in front of Norris. Both drivers switched to the medium compound, as did most of the grid. 

By lap 21, race leader Piastri had gained a 4 second buffer from the Mercedes of Russell. 

A pitstop fiasco damaged Red Bull’s chances at holding their pace, and left Yuki and Max frustrated on hards. The team’s exit lights malfunctioned, leaving the red stop light on and not letting the drivers know it was clear to leave (wasting precious seconds). It seemed to just be getting worse when Max declared, “Everything is overheating”. Ferrari’s strategy also strayed from the norm, and favoured the hard tyres. Leclerc displayed his frustration with the team’s commitment to a 2 stop plan. Despite this, the Ferrari pace seemed optimistic at the midpoint of the race, with Leclerc edging toward the back of Norris. The RB21 showed its weakness when Hamilton easily passed Verstappen, the car seemingly having no fight at all. Remarkably, the two Ferraris then simultaneously overtook their opponents: Leclerc with Norris, and Hamilton with his latest opponent Antonelli. 

There were black and white flags galore throughout the race, as many track limits warnings were dished out to drivers like Hadjar and Antonelli multiple times. Luckily, they escaped penalties. Another bad pitstop for Max Verstappen only harmed his race even more, when his front right wheel was tricky to remove for the pit crew. The mishap caused a 6.2 second pitstop, and brought him out back in 20th. Antonelli also saw trouble when he exited the pits, as he met with a scramble of 3 other cars and lost a few places in the process. 

A battle between Tsunoda and Sainz ensued around the 30 lap mark, where Yuki’s front wing went into the back of the Williams. The pursuit continued with a scratch to the side of Saniz, resulting in a damaged sidepod. The debris from the battle ran over the track and now posed a threat towards the other cars. 

Liam Lawson got into trouble with the FIA when he tapped Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, and was punished with a 5 second penalty. Another came in the form of a 10 second setback after he collided with Hulkenberg. 

Piastri had now built a 7 second gap from the rest of the grid, but it was all taken away when a safety car was introduced on lap 33. Stewards worked to clear the debris from the Williams of Carlos Sainz, and Piastri was the first to take advantage of the reduced pit stop risk. The rest of the top 5 quickly followed suit, but Verstappen chose to stay out (moving him up to P8). Gasly was keeping up well with the rest of the big dogs, as he clung onto 6th. 

A bold move of Mercedes strategy saw George Russell change to the soft tyres for the remainder of the race (the only driver in the top 10 to do so). The British driver exclaimed the decision was “audacious”. 

Hamilton’s power rose from the restart of the safety car as he praised his team for the effective stops, and overtook Norris. The McLaren immediately sprang back and took back the position off the track, but was ordered by his team to give it back. Determined, Norris kept at it and overtook again, his sights now set on the other Ferrari teammate. Tense moments continued in a mid field battle between Tsunoda and Bearman on lap 39, as Lando utilised the plentiful DRS against Leclerc on the tricky hard tyres.  

Things went south for Sainz as he was handed a 10 second penalty for pushing Kimi Antonelli off the track. Sainz’s car was eventually retired on the 47th lap, due to a worsening issue with his sidepod (thanks to the collision with Yuki Tsunoda). It was a frustrating moment for Williams, with a double points opportunity looking likely towards the start of the race. 

Electronic glitches became a potential issue for Russell towards the conclusion of the Grand Prix, as his team warned him of a fault with his dash. Meanwhile Norris kept persisting behind Leclerc until the gap was practically non-existent, finally getting past the Ferrari on lap 52 of the 57 lap race. 

Due to his technical difficulties, Russell’s DRS option was set to manual usage, which caused an infringement investigation when he accidentally opened it in a non DRS zone. Strangely, Leclerc was also struggling with DRS, as was Lawson in qualifying. 

Russell began to lose pace in the final laps, letting Norris lessen the gap to P2 (and a McLaren 1-2). It was just out of reach as Oscar Piastri strolled over the line to become the first double race winner of the 2025 season, fireworks and all. His collected confidence during the entirety of the race only shows how serious of a contender for this year’s world driver’s championship he will be. George Russell was soon to follow, confirming his 3rd podium of the year, and his last minute battle with Norris was silenced. The rollercoaster of a race for Verstappen ended on a positive note, as he made a recovery to P6, overtaking Gasly on the last lap. 

Both Haas drivers also ended in the points, which will be a great confidence boost for them both going into the last stint of this triple header. Ollie Bearman had a brilliant race, weaving through the grid from his poor qualifying position of 20th all the way to gaining a point in 10th. After the race, Niko Hulkenberg’s Sauber was determined to have an overly worn plank, disqualifying him from the race and losing his P13 finish.

Photo credits: "Fireworks Bahrain GP 2016" by Dave Jefferys is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.