Bahrain Grand Prix: Pole at Piastri
Dark. Dry. Air +26C, highway +31C
The Bahrain Grand Prix in 2025 was the fourth on the calendar, and the teams were already comfortable with the updated cars and tires and were very surprised by their behavior on the Sahir circuit. The Bahrain stage was the first in really hot weather, and this was the first time the riders had worked in such conditions this year.
McLaren didn't seem to feel these problems, leading in all three practice sessions, but no one really attacked, only qualifying put everything in its place. McLaren has never had a pole position in Bahrain before.
Pirelli brought the toughest compounds to the stage – C1, C2 and C3 in the role of Hard, Medium and Soft. The same trains were used a week ago in Suzuka, but they behaved completely differently there. The clutch was missing, the cars were sliding, the riders were unhappy.
By the beginning of qualifying, the heat had subsided a little, and the wind had picked up.
In the first session, everyone went to Soft. Stroll and Tsunode canceled the lap due to going off the track. Verstappen made a mistake on braking in the last corner, drove off the track and returned to the pits.
Norris showed the best time, completing a lap in 1:31.107, with Hamilton and Verstappen in two tenths behind him. The training leader Piastri was only the fourth. Albon, Lawson, Bortoleto, Stroll and Berman dropped out of the further competition.
In the second session, many people were on the first fastest lap when the red flags appeared. Esteban Ocon lost his car on the curb, it turned around and was thrown into the barrier.
The Frenchman got out of the cockpit on his own, but as a precaution he was sent to the medical center for examination. The car had to be evacuated.
Antonelli and Russell left the pits for the pit lane before the time for the resumption of the session was announced - after qualifying, the stewards reviewed the incident and punished both drivers by losing one position on the starting field.
After the session resumed, the riders hurried to the track. In the first attempt, Piastri showed the best time – 1:30.454. Oscar refused the second attempt, but kept the first place. Duane, Hajjar, Hulkenberg, Alonso and the car-smashing Windows did not qualify for the finals.
The stewards retroactively deleted Hulkenberg's time from the first session. Because of this, Nico dropped to 16th place, and Elbon, who did not come out of the first session, rose to 15th.
In the final, Russell and Antonelli put a new Soft kit on the first attempt, while the others drove out on flat tires. Piastri led the record with 1:30.233. Verstappen complained about the brakes and ended up tenth, but then regained a few places. Hamilton had his lap cancelled due to going off the track.
In the second attempt, Russell held the top spot until the last seconds, but on the last lap Piastri snatched pole with 1:29.841.
Oscar Piastri has won qualifying in Bahrain, taking the second pole of his career. In the race, George Russell will share the front row of the starting field with him, Charles Leclair and Kimi Antonelli will start from the second, Pierre Gasly, who showed his best result this year, and Lando Norris, the leader of the individual standings, will start from the third.
Qualification results
Pilot
Team
1st session
2nd session
3rd session
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
M
Time
Kr
1. O.Piastri
McLaren
4
1:31.392
5
1
1:30.454
4
1
1:29.841
6
2. D.Russell
Mercedes
9
1:31.494
6
4
1:30.664
8
2
1:30.009
6
3. S.Leclair
Ferrari
7
1:31.454
3
6
1:30.724
7
3
1:30.175
6
4. K.Antonelli
Mercedes
6
1:31.415
6
5
1:30.716
8
4
1:30.213
6
5. P.Gasli
Alpine
8
1:31.462
6
3
1:30.643
7
5
1:30.216
6
6. L.Norris
McLaren
1
1:31.107
5
2
1:30.560
7
6
1:30.267
6
7. M.Verstappen
Red Bull
3
1:31.303
5
9
1:31.019
6
7
1:30.423
6
8. K.Sainz
Williams
11
1:31.591
6
7
1:30.844
7
8
1:30.680
6
9. L.Hamilton
Ferrari
2
1:31.219
6
8
1:31.009
6
9
1:30.772
6
10. Yu.Tsunoda
Red Bull
14
1:31.751
6
10
1:31.228
5
10
1:31.303
6
11. D. Duane
Alpine
5
1:31.414
6
11
1:31.245
7
12. A.Hajjar
Racing Bulls
10
1:31.591
6
12
1:31.271
6
13. F. Alonso
Aston Martin
13
1:31.634
9
13
1:31.886
6
14. E.Okon
Haas
12
1:31.594
6
14
–
2
15. A.Elbon
Williams
15
1:32.040
6
15
–
0
16. N. Hulkenberg
Sauber
16
1:32.067
9
8
17. L. Lawson
Racing Bulls
17
1:32.165
6
18. The city of Bortoleto
Sauber
18
1:32.186
6
19. L. Stroll
Aston Martin
19
1:32.283
9
20. O. Berman
Haas
20
1:32.373
6
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