Hello, Formula One Fans!
I should start by saying that I took a lot more notes than what I have highlighted in this article, but I tried to condense everything down into a more readable format! Thanks for bearing with me as I refine my writing style and grow as an amateur motorsports journalist!
With that being said, the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix was an exciting one to watch and was full of surprises such as multiple time penalties, collisions, and even technical errors in the pits! Oscar Piastri may have run away with this one, but the rest of the field was truly battling out from start to finish.
Race Start
Oscar Piastri had a good getaway at the start, remaining in P1 through Turn 1, and would continue to lead until he made his first pitstop on Lap 15. George Russell showed great reaction time, getting a tremendous jump off the line, seeing him pass up Charles Leclerc for P2 before the first turn, where he would remain until Lap 14 when he pitted for new tires.
Lando Norris started P6 but pushed his way past rookie Kimi Antonelli in P5, Pierre Gasly in P4, and then Leclerc for P3 all by Turn 4 showing a wonderful display of force for the championship leader. However, Norris would be under investigation for being out of position at the start. Replays showed him being over the white starting box, which resulted in a 5 second time penalty that he ended up serving during his first pitstop.
(My) Race Highlights
Norris would end up pitting from P3 during Lap 11, in which he served his penalty and put on a new set of tires before coming out at P14. Max Verstappen came in on the same lap, but unfortunately performed a slow stop due to technical issues on his pit lights dropping him back to P17.
When Piastri did finally pit on Lap 15 from P1, he briefly fell back to P3, coming out of the pitlane behind Leclerc and Hamilton, who had taken the lead of the race but still needed to pit unfortunately. Meanwhile, Norris was moving up the field, finding himself in P6 by the time his teammate pitted. Reigning World Champion Verstappen was also making a good run, pushing his way up to P10 before Piastri pitted.
Verstappen would eventually pit again on Lap 25 from P9, and experienced another slow stop but this time it was due to a tire change issue, finally coming out at P20. However, this didn't phase the 4-time champion, who was up to P14 by Lap 29.
Safety Car - Lap 32
Tsunoda and Sainz made contact, ripping a hole in Sainz's sidewall and throwing debris on the track, resulting in the first Safety Car of the race. Tsunoda was able to recover and continue the race, although Sainz would receive a penalty for causing a collision. Later on, Sainz would receive another penalty for forcing Antonelli off-track before retiring due to damage on Lap 47.
Green Flag - Lap 36
Hamilton got a good start, getting the jump on Norris and taking P4 by Turn 1. Norris would eventually pass Hamilton off-track at Turn 4, but was forced to give the position back by race control, starting the fight all over again. By Lap 38, Norris was able to cleanly overtake Hamilton for P4 on Turn 4, but now he was racing against the clock trying to catch Leclerc in P3, who was just outside of the DRS zone.
On Lap 44, Norris was finally within DRS range of Leclerc, but it would take him another 2 laps before he was able to make a move on the Ferrari. Unfortunately, Norris locked up during his attempt, which lost him a little bit of time and forced him to try again. Leclerc showcased exceptional defensive driving during Norris’ offensive attack over the next few laps, but Lando would eventually make a move stick and finally grab P3 from Leclerc on Lap 52.
Meanwhile, Russell was experiencing some electrical issues around Lap 50, getting a call from his engineer telling him he might lose the display on his dash, but to continue driving as normal. Russell took the news well, and actually cracked a joke about the situation referencing Fernando Alonso’s FP2 incident - “As long as the steering wheel doesn't come off.”
But a few laps later Russell's electrical gremlin would get the better of him. His radio message to his engineer told them that shifting gears had gotten worse, and unfortunately he manually opened his DRS while he was outside of the minimum range. Stewards decided to review the incident after the race, but no penalty was received as a result from Russell's error.
In the end, Russell managed to hold off Norris' attack in the final moments of the race to stay in P2, while Piastri had crossed the checkered flag nearly 16 seconds ahead of the pair to bring home his second win of the season.
(My) Final Thoughts
Piastri completely dominated this race from start to finish, and is quickly proving himself to be the best driver at McLaren, and on the grid, this season. Russell managed to overcome his electrical gremlins to hold on to P2, which happened to be his best finish of the season so far - which keeps him in contention for the Drivers’ Championship for now. Norris seems to be struggling quite a bit after his Round 1 victory in Melbourne, and is clearly losing confidence in himself and his car, but the big question on my mind is can he manage to pull it together before it's too late?
Provision Race Results (At the Checkered Flag)
P1 - O. Piastri +25 pts
P2 - G. Russell +18 pts
P3 - L. Norris +15 pts
P4 - C. Leclerc +12 pts
P5 - L. Hamilton +10 pts
P6 - M. Verstappen +8 pts
P7 - P. Gasly +6 pts
P8 - E. Ocon +4 pts
P9 - Y. Tsunoda +2 pts
P10 - O. Bearman +1 pt
P11 - K. Antonelli
P12 - A. Albon
P13 - J. Doohan
P14 - N. Hülkenberg
P15 - I. Hadjar
P16 - F. Alonso
P17 - L. Lawson
P18 - L. Stroll
P19 - G. Bortoleto
DNF - C. Sainz
Looking Forward
The 2025 season continues with Round 5 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia this weekend, and if Piastri performs at the level he displayed in Bahrain, then we very well may see a new McLaren Drivers’ Championship leader.
Thank you all for joining me, and I hope to see you again next time!
-Tyler