#F1 #BahrainGP #Qualifying: @OscarPiastri pips @GeorgeRussell63 to pole.
Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39, celebrating in Parc Ferme after taking pole position in Qualifying, Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2025, Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. Piastri Bahrain GP Pole, 2025 Bahrain GP Qualifying, Bahrain GP Qualifying Results, Formula 1 Bahrain Qualifying.
Piastri Bahrain GP Pole – McLaren’s Oscar Piastri pipped Mercedes’ George Russell to take position for tomorrow’s Bahrain GP as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three. Championship leader Lando Norris ended up sixth whilst reigning world champion Max Verstappen was a position lower in seventh.
In Q3, the initial flyers saw Tsunoda the first to register a lap-time putting in a 1:31.637, Verstappen slotted behind his team-mate by 0.420 seconds.
Antonelli then moved to the top on a 1:31.494. Sainz then moved into third and 0.294 seconds down.
Russell then jumped to provisional pole on a 1:30.364 and was over 1.046 seconds clear of Hamilton who moved into second.
Leclerc then jumped his team-mate into second then the McLaren’s arrived as Piastri set two purples in the final two sectors to take provisional pole off Russell by 0.233 seconds with a 1:30.233 effort.
Norris moved into third with his 1:30.396 to take P3.
Antonelli’s effort was invalidated for exceeding track limits at turn 11.
In the final hot-laps, Antonelli was the first to shoot to provisional pole with a 1:30.213 until team-mate Russell scored two purples in sector one and three to take P1 with a 1:30.009 as Leclerc improved to second and was 0.166 seconds off the Briton.
Verstappen was next and could only improve to P7 with his personal bests as Piastri pipped Russell to pole position with a solid 1:29.841 and was 0.168 seconds clear of the Mercedes driver.
Norris was unable to improve after making a mistake into turn one, suffering wheel-spin on the exit and wound up sixth behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who qualified an impressive fifth.
Williams’ Carlos Sainz was eighth as Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten.
***Both Mercedes drivers Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell are currently under investigation by the race stewards for not following the Race Director’s Instructions by leaving the garage before session commencement after the red flag in Q2***
In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Piastri, with 11 minutes and one minute on the clock, the red flag was waved after Haas’s Esteban Ocon suffered a heavy shunt into the barriers at turn two.
Replays showed the Frenchman got out of shape out of turn three over the kerbs, suffering a tank slapper and spun across the track, into the wall destroying his VF-25 racer’s rear wing. You can watch the incident here: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/watch-ocon-brings-out-the-red-flags-after-heavy-crash-in-bahrain-qualifying.6jIa1U5z3ynDV5FoJMOiM9
Red Bull’s Tsunoda survived elimination from Q2 after Alpine’s Jack Doohan could only improve to 11th and just missed out on a Q3 appearance by a narrow 0.047 seconds.
Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar wounded up 12th and ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg who originally qualified 13th (*drops to P16 after a lap-time invalidation)
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took 14th as the aforementioned Ocon did not set a time following his crash.
***Hulkenberg’s lap time was deleted, which dropped him to P16 and Albon moves up to 15th****
In the opening segment, which was topped by Norris, a flurry of improvements saw Sauber’s Hulkenberg eliminate Williams’ Alexander Albon by a slim 0.042 seconds meaning the Thai-Briton driver will start the Bahrain Grand Prix in 16th (now starts P15 following Hulkenberg’s lap-time deletion.)
Racing Bulls Liam Lawson ended qualifying in 17th and ahead of Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto who took 18th.
Both Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’s Oliver Bearman brought up the rear.
2025 Bahrain GP Qualifying – The Top Three
2025 Bahrain GP Pole Position – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team Mercedes, MCL39 – 1:30.233:
“I felt confident out there all weekend. FP3, we had good pace, and Qualifying – the others caught up a little closer than I wanted, but I delivered the laps when it mattered so very, very happy. I have to get to Turn 1 in first so let’s see what happens, but I’ve felt comfortable all weekend. I can’t thank the team enough for the car they have given me.”
2nd Place – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W16 – 1:30.009:
“100% – if anyone said we would be within half a second of the McLarens, we’d have taken it as we’d have been P3 on the grid, so to be P2 is a bonus. The night-time coming in, the temperatures getting cooler – earlier when it was roasting hot, the McLarens were down the road.”
3rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-25 – 1:30.175:
“Honestly, I didn’t expect P3. At the beginning of Q3 everything felt really bad with the old tyres, but as soon as we put on the new tyres everything felt better. I did not expect it but I am very happy. The team has pushed like crazy to bring those upgrades here. It’s a small gain, not a big one but next week it should be a bit more of a step.”
