F1. Bahrain 2025 Review

By Gavin Huet, Graeme Woolf , and Chelsea Wintle

Driver of the Weekend

Graeme: I hate to pick the winner of the race for the 3rd time in four weekends, but Oscar Piastri was in a class of his own. I said to my wife during the first lap of the race, that it’s over already, that no one would get close to him and look what happened. If it wasn’t for the safety car, he would’ve already been in Saudi Arabia waiting for next week’s race by the time everyone else finished.

Gavin: Oscar Piastri. He had a great weekend, qualifying on pole and then dominating his opponents on the track. Even the restart after the safety car, which could have been an issue as he was on the medium tyres as opposed to the softs that George Russell behind him was on, was handled with aplomb. The Australian has taken a huge step forward this season and quite rightly is sneaking down the odds to be crowned champion.

Chelsea: Yeah, it’s Piastri, but let’s talk about George Russell. On the quiet, my Sportsfreak compatriots don’t have a lot of time for the doe-eyed lawnmower man, but he’s been so impressive this year. Highlights include a stunning lap in qualifying, some brilliant battles with Lando Norris, and all while managing an electrical fault. I’m all about Lewis and Ferrari this year, but I’d be secretly delighted if Russell quietly snaffled a championship out from under all of them.

 

Talking Point

Graeme: Technology plays a huge part in sport nowadays and F1 is among the world leaders in a lot of aspects, I’d suggest. So, to have drivers DRS failing in qualifying & the race and the graphics on screen go missing during the race for a long period, is extremely frustrating to the viewer, not to mention the drivers and teams. I lost count of how many times George Russell was complaining about losing this or that in the race. Surely this has to be a once off thing and can’t continue going forward.

Gavin: There were technical gremlins and ineptitude all over the race weekend. We had Nico Hulkenburg getting his time deleted for track limits long after the incident, which meant Alex Albon could not progress in qualifying as it was too late. During the race we had a faulty transponder on George Russel’s Mercedes which meant no-one knew where he was on track which meant those chasing him down, firstly Charles Leclerc and then Lando Norris, had to manually switch DRS on but only if they were certain they were in the one second gap. The timing tree took a holiday, so we had commentators reading out gaps between drivers. And then as Oscar Piastri crossed the line to win we instead had to sit through the “battle” between George Russell and Lando Norris. Finally we have Carlos Sainz who was given a 10 second stop go penalty that he served before retiring the car, unfortunately the stewards were under the impression he had not served the penalty until Williams raised the issue. Seriously, the FIA keep dishing out fines and acting like a dictatorship but maybe they should instead be focusing a bit more on their flagship product and not on performative rubbish.

Chelsea: Fresh off one of the performances of his life in Suzuka, Max Verstappen was nowhere to be seen this weekend. Apparently nobody felt this more keenly than Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen, who was seen shouting at Dr Helmut Marko following the race (one wonders if Liam Lawson has watched that clip on repeat). The Red Bulls suffered throughout the weekend with poor pit stops due partly to electrical failure, and it really feels as likely that Verstappen could be fighting for 10th in the championship as 1st. Still, Yuki Tsunoda appears to be settling in, and maybe the planned Imola upgrade could give them the consistent performance they sorely need.

 

Gossip Time

Graeme: Why did Ferrari sign Lewis Hamilton? Yes, he won the China Sprint Race, but I get the feeling that he’s just going to be a low points scoring driver all season now. His teammate Charles Leclerc is quicker than he is, and younger. Like all of us, as we age, we slow down and maybe we’re seeing evidence of that in Hamilton now.

Gavin: Red Bull had a real struggle this weekend, their cars are not great relative to the McLarens and their pit stops were laughable. From a team that prided themselves on pure professionalism they are now cracking at the seams. You could argue it is because they have lost so many of the people at the top of the team structure that it was inevitable, or you could argue those same people saw the writing on the wall and made moves before it all came crashing down. Christian Horner and Helmut Marko need to do something quickly or else they risk losing the crown jewel that is Max Verstappen. Still, it could be worse, they could be Aston Martin.

Chelsea: There’s a conspiracy afoot. Last week, Kimi Antonelli was voted as Driver of the Day by F1’s viewing populace. His performance was solid, but not electrifying. This week, he came second in the voting, despite at least three or four drivers out-performing him, including fellow rookie Ollie Bearman. What’s the story? Have the Tifosi turned their backs on Ferrari and voted for Antonelli in droves? Has Antonelli himself harnessed his youth and tech savvy to mobilise driver-voting bots? Either way, suss. As Regina George might say, stop trying to make Antonelli happen! It’s not going to happen!

 

Looking Ahead

Graeme: There have been some signs recently of the young immature Lando Norris returning. There was last week at Suzuka when he tried to undertake Max Verstappen coming out of the pits, and lost ground that he never recovered. Then he beat himself up in interviews after qualifying in Bahrain. Yes, he could’ve been better, but to go to the extent he did and just not give a proper answer, shows a lack of respect for those covering his sport and for the fans watching. And his impatience while following George Russell late in the race when he locked up while trying to overtake, again showed to me that he’s not ready to be a world champion. I think someone’s feeling the heat from across his own garage.

Gavin: Lando Norris needs to have a better weekend. The driver who would be a champion has certainly not acted like one so far this year and quite frankly it is getting boring now. I get he is the first to point out his issues and own them, but he needs to move on from this and become the driver he could be. Cleverer people than me have said Oscar will win the championship before Lando and I have to admit I agree with this.

Chelsea: Lando “Eeyore” Norris needs a bit of a cuddle before heading into the next round. His response to his poor qualifying was despondent and almost petulant – a reminder of his immaturity in comparison to rival Verstappen. His race was fair to middling – a fantastic start stifled by a penalty for starting out of position; overtaking Hamilton outside track limits but ultimately finishing in third. Norris needs to put on some big boy pants on if he’s going to continue to compete for the championship.

Bonus Picture

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