1 week Ago
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images Max Verstappen versus McLaren tops the storylines for the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix 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 weekend, the grid returns to the desert for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Now the lap times will count for real.Here are the storylines heading into the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix.Max vs.
McLaren, Round 4 Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images McLaren threw the first two big punches of the 2025 F1 season, with Lando Norris winning in Australia and Oscar Piastri taking the victory in Shanghai.Max Verstappen threw one heck of a counter in the Japanese Grand Prix.On a week where it looked as if it would be another McLaren victory, Verstappen delivered one of the best qualifying sessions of his career, nipping Norris for pole by just 0.
012 seconds. Even with that fast McLaren duo in his rear-view mirror on Sunday, Verstappen kept them at bay for his first win of the 2025 season. Now this fascinating fight heads to Bahrain.
Will Verstappen hold them off again, or will McLaren deliver a counter of their own, while quieting the renewed questions over how they handled strategy decisions in Suzuka?Can Ferrari take a bigger step forward?Speaking of teams that need to change the narrative.This has not been the start to the 2025 season that Ferrari was hoping for. Lewis Hamilton’s F1 Sprint win in Shanghai aside, the Scuderia have lagged behind their rivals at the sharp end of the grid so far this season.
While the 18 points Hamilton and Charles Leclerc banked in Suzuka — led by Leclerc’s fourth-place finish — saw Ferrari take sole possession of fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship race, fourth place is not where they want to be.Not by a long shot.“We are struggling with some aspects and we must keep working to try and extract more from the car for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia,” said Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur after the Japanese Grand Prix.
“We know there is room for improvement and we need to work on car balance and tire management,” added Vasseur. “For next week in Bahrain, we and in fact all the teams, will have some baseline data from pre-season testing, so we will be able to get a clearer picture of where we stand and of what we need to do to improve.” A glimpse at F1’s future on FridayOne of the major storylines heading into the 2025 F1 season was the number of new full-time drivers on the grid.
This year saw five true rookies take to the grid: Oliver Bearman at Haas, Isack Hadjar at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber, Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, and Jack Doohan at Alpine. In addition to Liam Lawson, who had 11 grands prix under his belt when he started the year at Red Bull before his move to VCARB.If you thought that was a big number of young drivers, just wait.
Friday’s FP1 will see several rookies take to the track in FP1, as teams continue to satisfy the requirement that four rookies participate in FP1 sessions during the season. Already Williams, Mercedes, and Aston Martin have confirmed that Luke Browning, Frederik Vesti, and Felipe Drugovich respectively will run in FP1. Each of them has previously taken part in practice sessions for those teams.
Two other teams — Haas and Ferrari — have also confirmed that young drivers will be participating in FP1 on Friday. Dino Beganovic will make his Ferrari debut while Ryō Hirakawa will drive for Haas. Hirakawa drove in place of Doohan at the Japanese Grand Prix last week, before making his move to Haas.
Friday will give us a glimpse of what “F1: 2030” could look like.Who has taken a step forward since testing?This weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix offers a fascinating measuring stick. Not just in terms of how the teams stack up against each other in the pecking order, but in terms of how they stack up against themselves.
Specifically, the versions of themselves from February.Over three days at the end of February, the teams were in Bahrain for pre-season testing. As is always the case, we took the bits of data from testing with a massive dose of skepticism.
But this weekend will give us a look at how much each team has evolved, and improved, since then. Carlos Sainz Jr. looking for his breakthrough at Willi Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images Speaking of pre-season testing, Carlos Sainz Jr.
topped the timing sheets after three days in the desert the last time the grid was in Bahrain.However, the start of his journey at Williams has not been as kind.Sainz has one finish in the points to his resume this season after he was promoted to P10 following post-race disqualifications handed down to Hamilton, Leclerc, and Pierre Gasly.
He was hit with a three-place grid penalty for impeding Hamilton during Q2 in Japan and finished 14th after starting 15th. Still, Williams Team Principal James Vowles, as well as Sainz himself, remain confident that brighter days are ahead.“Near enough all cars finished in Qualifying order and my reflection on the weekend is we didn’t get it all right with Carlos in traffic yesterday and that’s on us as a team,” said Vowles after the Japanese Grand Prix.
“In positive news Carlos’ performance is in a strong place and I can’t wait for next two races to see how we as a team perform and bring it all together.”“Unfortunately, as expected, it was a difficult race stuck in traffic after a costly Saturday, with some details to polish in Qualifying and then the penalty,” said Sainz after the Japanese Grand Prix.“On a positive note, I think the pace was there today.
I was comfortable with the car, managed to do some good overtakes and overall learnt a lot out there on track,” added Sainz. “Now the focus is to carry the positive feeling of this weekend on to the next GPs and build from here. Once I start putting everything together, I know better results will come.
On to Bahrain!”Can the man who topped the timing sheets at the end of February put in a big performance this weekend? Will the weather — specifically the heat — be a factor?While the weather during pre-season testing was on the cooler side, temperatures are expected to rise for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Current forecasts are calling for a high in the 40s (Celsius) for media day on Thursday, with temperatures in the 30s for the rest of the weekend.That could see the grid shaken up a bit.
For example, last season Mercedes struggled when facing warmer temperatures. Last year at hotter races, such as Spain and Hungary, Mercedes lagged behind the pace of their rivals, while in cooler conditions such as Canada and Las Vegas the W15 came alive.Conditions have been favorable to Mercedes through the start of the season, and the Silver Arrows head to Bahrain sitting second in the Constructors’ Championship standings.
But if the temperatures rise, will Mercedes maintain the same level of performance?.
