McLaren had a satisfying race this weekend, as Oscar Piastri stormed to a dominant win and Lando was able to come back from 6th place to end on the podium. George was the one that got between the pair, with a lovely drive for himself. The Bahrain Grand Prix delivered much more excitement than Japan last week, so let’s go over the highlights.
- Lando Goes from P6 to P3
- Norris definitely came to the grid with a goal this Sunday: to get onto the podium from his starting position in 6th. Luckily for both McLaren and his goals in the Championship, that is exactly what he did. It was a long road for Lando, however, even if it was looking good at the start when he was able to get up into third. After the first round of pit stops, though, he had a lot of ground to make up, which he managed to do. Towards the final laps of the race, Leclerc was still ahead of him, but with only a handful of laps left in the race, Lando managed to slip past and went on a charge for a McLaren 1-2. Unfortunately Norris could not pass Russell, but the podium was still well-deserved, and allowed him to keep the lead over his teammate in the Championship.
- Penalties Galore
- Norris, mentioned above, was one of the victims of a 5 second time penalty, which was awarded to him due to being out of position for the race start. Lando was able to serve the penalty in his first pit stop, and still managed an impressive drive. But other drivers got their penalties later in the race and couldn’t serve it in the pits. Among those was Liam Lawson, who got first a five second penalty for causing a collision with Nico Hulkenberg, and a 10 second one a while later for the same reason but with a different car. Carlos Sainz also received a 10 second penalty for forcing the car of Antonelli off the track. However, Sainz also retired from the race due to some chassis damage, so the penalty did not effect him.
- Clean Racing, but One Safety Car
- For the majority of the race, though there were many exciting overtakes and on track battles, most of the drivers kept it clean this Sunday, and there was no lockups or mistakes that got out of hand and ended with a driver in the wall. Even so, a safety car still came out and disrupted the session. It was caused by Tsunoda and Sainz colliding and created some debris on the track. The safety car actually did come at the perfect moment for many, including Norris and Leclerc, allowing them to take their second pit stop for less time.
- Haas and Alpine Score Points
- Alpine finally scored their first points of the 2025 season and are now tied with Kick Sauber in 9th and 10th. Gasly had an incredibly impressive drive, even after he losing three places to Leclerc, Hamilton, and Verstappen and ending up in 7th. Haas also had a great day in Bahrain, after their qualifying was less than stunning. Ollie Bearman started 20th and last on the grid, but had an impressive start and managed to end the race in 10th place, and taking home one point for Haas. Meanwhile Esteban Ocon came from 14th after a bad crash in qualifying to finish 8th, which meant Haas got the pleasure of scoring double points in Bahrain.
- Tsunoda Scored Points for Red Bull
- The Bahrain Grand Prix was Tsunoda’s second outing as a Red Bull driver, and Verstappen had been complaining on the radio about the car all weekend, however this was the first time this season that both Red Bull cars got into Q3. Tsunoda finally delivered as much as it seemed his car could this weekend, and ended in 9th, while Verstappen passed Gasly at the last moment to secure 6th. Still, it must’ve been a good moment for the Japanese driver to have earned his first point as a Red Bull driver.
