It’s only mid-April and we are now four races into the Formula 1 season already. Motorsport Week has all the big topics from last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
As expected, McLaren leads the way on the road, with everyone else following in a long papaya trail.
There is much to discuss regarding McLaren, as well as the teams behind them, as the new season truly gathers pace.
READ MORE – Motorsport Week’s F1 2025 Bahrain GP Driver Ratings
Is Piastri now top dog at McLaren?
It was a dominant display from Oscar Piastri, who put his first-round disappointment behind him with victory in China, and after another podium in Japan, the Australian was in no mood to look second best to anyone in Bahrain.
The win puts Piastri just three points off team-mate Lando Norris in the Drivers’ standings, and with the Brit struggling in comparison, the question might need to be asked: is Piastri now the go-to driver at McLaren?
It has to be said that Piastri, in terms of time, has risen to Norris’ level very quickly, a comparatively short space of time given Norris is now in his seventh season of F1.
Quiet and assured, Piastri looks like a champion in the making, and the seeds of doubt might be being sowed in Norris’ head, but the team is stating it will help him utilise the car to enable he can compete, a car he says has an “opposite” feeling to that of last year’s.
If he is to maintain his own title credentials, he will need to bounce back rapidly in Jeddah, otherwise Piastri will start to look more and more like the main man.
How much should Red Bull and Verstappen be worried?
After a stunning victory in Japan, Max Verstappen returned to the newly-familiar territory of mediocrity this weekend, finishing sixth, and closer to Alpine at the finish than he was the McLarens, or even the Ferraris.
Downplaying its chances was always a cornerstone of its PR campaign this season, and Red Bull has often been honest about the struggles it has faced with the RB21, but with Verstappen powerless to even wring a podium out of it – which he had managed prior to last weekend – it seems that Helmut Marko’s pre-season prediction about it being in a four-horse race is currently wide of the mark, with Verstappen saying he is giving-up on his chances of retaining the title.
Jeddah’s layout – with high-speed corners, which suited the car in Suzuka – and Verstappen’s previous successes on the circuit might enable him and the team to complete a more successful F1 weekend, but with a plethora of different circuits coming after that, those back at Milton Keynes might feel jittery about what is to come, particularly when it comes to Verstappen’s future.
Can Mercedes catch McLaren?
The team closest to McLaren is currently Mercedes, which saw another podium finish in Bahrain.
George Russell overcame a one-place grid penalty to finish second, holding off Norris, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli looked good for points had he not been put on a three-stop strategy.
The team’s current challenger is certainly nifty in pace – albeit just under 1.5 tenths off Piastri’s pole time – and Russell is perhaps driving as well as he ever has, prompting further speculation he is about to extend his contract with the Brackley-based squad.
McLaren has already admitted it “can’t sleep” quietly knowing it has the best package in F1, and with the same engine powering its car as well as the works team, could Mercedes be able to find more to truly challenge the current runaway leaders?
Has Hamilton turned the corner?
Despite behind despondent with his qualifying performance, Lewis Hamilton enjoyed his best Grand Prix result of the year – fifth, albeit around eight seconds down on team-mate Charles Leclerc at the finish.
The need to adapt to a new team and a new car was always going to be a struggle for Hamilton, as it would any driver, but after the race, the seven-time champion said he has “figured out” how to drive the SF-25, despite telling media including Motorsport Week that the car is “alien” to him.
It is a totally different monster to the Mercedes cars he has been used to for many years, and years of experience in F1 is enabling Hamilton to relearn a driving style that helps him get the best out of the car, with the team also stating it is willing to make the necessary adjustments to suit him.
The more Hamilton adapts, and the closer the team gets to introducing any possible upgrades, the more likely it is we could see him back on the podium soon.
Is Bahrain a sign of things to come from Alpine?
After snatching sixth in the Constructors’ Championship last year, Alpine was always looking to be in contention in the F1 midfield this year, but the French team has not been at the races so far in 2025.
But Bahrain saw an upturn in fortunes for the team, with Pierre Gasly leading the charge.
Qualifying fifth [moved to fourth after Antonelli’s grid penalty], Gasly was desperately close to a higher slot, ending up just four hundredths of a second short of Leclerc’s third-place time.
And in the race, Gasly was able to maintain pace to finish seventh, just two seconds short of Verstappen at the chequered flag.
Jack Doohan narrowly missed out on Q3 and eventually finished 14th, 10 seconds off the points.
With Racing Bulls and Williams failing to score, Gasly’s six points puts the team back into contention, and hope that Jeddah will see continuity in its battle alongside them and Haas.
READ MORE – F1 Bahrain GP – Qualifying Results
READ MORE – F1 2025 Bahrain GP – Race Results
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