Bahrain Grand Prix 2025: Full F1 coverage from SB Nation

Fighting for sixth place is not often where you find Max Verstappen in the closing laps of a Formula 1 race.

But that is exactly where the Red Bull driver found himself as the laps ticked down in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday. After a difficult qualifying session ended with Verstappen starting the race down in P7, everything went wrong for him from the moment the lights went out to start the Bahrain Grand Prix.

George Russell had to overcome numerous obstacles to hold on to second in the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix. He had to keep a hard-charging Lando Norris at bay over the closing laps. He needed to make a 25-lap stint on a set of soft tires work despite high levels of tire degradation.

He also needed to do all of that while experiencing multiple mechanical failures on his W16 over the final stretch of the race.

Oscar Piastri’s win in the Bahrain Grand Prix made him the first repeat winner of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

It also pulled him into second place in the F1 Drivers’ Championship standings, just three points off the leader.

A fascinating qualifying session — and a few post-qualifying grid penalties — set the field for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

So what are the major storylines to follow on this Formula 1 Sunday? Let’s dive in.

During the buildup to the Japanese Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen was lamenting a lack of confidence in the RB21 McLaren seemed to have the dominant package, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took turns topping the timing sheets. But when qualifying drew to a close it was Verstappen who took pole position, en route to his first win of the season.

With that same scenario playing out in the days ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix — the McLaren duo again trading times atop the leaderboard while Verstappen sounded the alarm about the RB21 being “too slow” — many wondered if the Red Bull driver would still find a way to take pole position in the desert.

When Lewis Hamilton took the win in the F1 Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, it seemed as if Ferrari’s newest driver was on the cusp of a big breakout in red.

Since then, however, Hamilton has been off the pace and left looking for answers. That continued Saturday in Bahrain as Hamilton qualified ninth for the Bahrain Grand Prix, six spots behind teammate Charles Leclerc. And with Leclerc promoted to second following a penalty handed down to George Russell, Hamilton is set to start seven spots behind his teammate.

Mercedes enjoyed a strong qualifying session Saturday at the Bahrain Grand Prix, as George Russell finished second and young teammate Kimi Antonelli finished fourth.

But neither driver will be starting there.

All week long at the Formula 1 Grand Prix it looked as if McLaren would lock out the front row during qualifying. Teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took turns topping the timing sheets in practice, and the rest of the grid pointed to the McLaren duo as again the dominant force heading into qualifying.

While Piastri held up his end of the bargain, taking pole position for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Norris was left dejected and looking for answers after finishing over four-tenths behind his teammate, qualifying sixth.

If a Formula 1 team needed a good result from Saturday’s qualifying session, it was Alpine. Entering the Bahrain Grand Prix as the only team yet to score this season, a strong result from Pierre Gasly or Jack Doohan would give them a much-needed confidence boost heading into the race on Sunday.

Alpine got exactly what they were hoping for.

For the third time in four grands prix, a McLaren will start in pole position this Formula 1 season.

For the second time this year, it is Oscar Piastri who will be up front when the Bahrain Grand Prix begins on Sunday.

Four teams have brought upgrades to the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Leading the way is Ferrari, as the team arrived in Bahrain with a new floor for the SF-25, one that both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton hope will help Ferrari close the gap to McLaren, as well as Max Verstappen, at the front of the F1 grid.

One of the many beautiful things about Formula 1?

The answer to what ails a team could be right around the corner, in the form of the next set of upgrades to their challenger.

While the biggest move in the Formula 1 driver transfer market last season involved Lewis Hamilton moving from Mercedes to Ferrari, the second-biggest move involved the driver whose seat Hamilton took at the Scuderia. With Hamilton moving to Ferrari that made Carlos Sainz Jr. the biggest free agent of the last F1 hiring cycle, and the Spanish driver ultimately signed with Williams for this season.

However, the results have not been immediate for Sainz with his new team. He has just one point on the year, thanks to a tenth-place classification at the Chinese Grand Prix. That result came only after three drivers — including Hamilton — who finished ahead of him were disqualified.

Kimi Antonelli is balancing his first year in F1 with his last year of schoolLife as a Formula 1 driver is tough enough. Not only are you crisscrossing the globe to compete at the highest levels of motorsport, putting your body and mind through some of the toughest tests imaginable, but you are doing it against 19 of the best drivers on the planet.

Imagine balancing that with your final year of school.

The impact of President Donald J. Trump’s imposition of increased tariffs is being felt across the globe, as markets remain rattled and investors wonder where to make their next financial moves.

Now similar questions are creeping towards the race track.

For three days at the end of February, the ten Formula 1 teams put their 2025 challengers through the paces during pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Lap times and performances were taken with a grain of salt, as observers were left to wonder what engine modes teams were using, what fuel levels were present for each lap, and just how much the drivers were pushing, or how much they were holding back.

This week the Formula 1 grid heads to Bahrain for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the fourth race weekend of the 2025 season and the second race in the first triple-header of the year.

Those who turn in for Friday’s first practice session might notice something a little different: Several young drivers on the grid for FP1.

Now that Cadillac’s entry as the 11th Formula 1 team has officially been confirmed for the 2026 season, they can turn their attention to getting ready for the upcoming campaign.

Which includes building a car for the track, and hiring drivers to climb into that machine when the season begins.

The search for the first points of the 2025 Formula 1 season continues for Alpine.

While the team finished on a high note a season ago, rising to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship standings after a slow start to the 2024 campaign, Alpine remains the only points-less team as the grid heads to Bahrain for the fourth race weekend of the season. While Pierre Gasly qualified in P11 for the Japanese Grand Prix, he could not crack the top ten for the team’s first points of the season, and finished 13th.