Saudi Arabian GP Race Report
The fifth round of the 2025 F1 World Championship in Bahrain saw further proof that this season will be a battle between the two McLaren drivers, with Max Verstappen in the mix and still a potential threat over the balance of the season.
The weekend saw a further swing of fortune towards Oscar Piastri, who logged his third win of the season and moved into the lead of the title race for the first time, while his team mate Lando Norris suffered a major setback.
Norris appeared to have the edge for most of the weekend, but when it mattered in the final qualifying session he made a costly mistake and bounced off a kerb into the wall. Unable to set a time in the Q3 session he was consigned to 10th place on the grid, with his attention now focussed on how much ground he could recover in the race.
Against expectations Verstappen again pulled off a mega final Q3 lap to pip Piastri to log his second pole of the season after Japan. However with overtaking somewhat easier at the Jeddah track it wasn’t going to be as easy for him to stay ahead for the duration as it was in Suzuka.
Piastri didn’t want to rely on DRS, however. He made a good start and drew alongside Verstappen as they braked for the first corner. The Dutchman was edged wide and opted to straight-line the corner. He emerged in front, and to no one’s surprise the FIA soon noted that his move was under investigation.
The Red Bull team chose not to tell him to hand back the place, and he duly earned a 5-second penalty that he served at his pit stop. That dropped him back behind Piastri, who had pitted a couple of laps earlier.
Norris started on the hard tyre to allow him to do a long first stint and benefit from clean air, and he led for a while before finally stopping and allowing Piastri to retake the lead. The Australian stayed safely in front of Verstappen for the duration after yet another superbly controlled performance that suggested that it will be hard for Norris to beat him over the season. The Englishman made good progress from his 10th grid spot had to settle for fourth, having failed to overcome Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to claim the final podium place.
After the flag Verstappen was still fuming about the penalty, and he declined to talk about it to the media. However he still bagged 18 points, and with the McLaren drivers likely to continue to take points pf each other he remains in title contention. He continues to outperform the car, and he was substantially faster than team mate Yuki Tsunoda, who crashed in both practice and the race.
Third place for Leclerc was the best result of the season thus far for Ferrari, and it came after a long opening stint that saw the Monegasque driver get good life out of his tyres. His team mate Lewis Hamilton had another frustrating weekend, starting and finishing seventh, and complaining about a lack of grip. The Ferrari honeymoon appears to be well and truly over.
George Russell again showed good one-lap pace as he qualified a decent third for Mercedes, but his car was too hard on its tyres in the race. He slipped back to fifth, finishing just ahead of team mate Kimi Antonelli. It was another solid weekend of learning for the young Italian, who is edging closer to Russell.
The pursuit of the top four teams was led by Carlos Sainz and Williams. The Spanish driver is starting to find his feet at his new team, and he qualified sixth and finished eighth, losing spots to Norris and Hamilton. He was followed home by team mate Alex Albon, the pair working together to give the latter DRS and allow him to stay ahead of the following Isack Hadjar.
The Frenchman had another good weekend for Racing Bulls, moving up from 14th to 10th at the flag. He outpaced teammate Liam Lawson, who finished 11th on the road but dropped back a place due to a 10-second penalty.
Aston Martin continues to struggle for pace, and Fernando Alonso could not better 11th, having been gifted a place by the Lawson penalty, while Lance Stroll was down in 16th. The Silverstone team urgently needs upgrades that are promised for the upcoming races.
After scoring well of late Haas fell back in Jeddah, the car lacking performance in the high-speed corners. On the anniversary of his F1 debut Oliver Bearman had the edge over Esteban Ocon as the pair finished 13th and 14th. Meanwhile it was another disappointing weekend for Sauber, with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto 15th and 18th despite a package of aero upgrades.
Verstappen aside Perhaps the most frustrated driver on Sunday was Pierre Gasly, the Alpine driver having done a great job to qualify ninth only to be pushed into the wall by Tsunoda on the first lap. His team make Jack Doohan finished 17th after tyre wear meant that the Aussie became the only driver to pit twice.
After a hectic run of five races in six weekends teams now have a break before the next race in Miami, which allow them to process what they’ve learned and bring new parts to the track. Like Jeddah Miami is a semi-permanent street track that can easily catch drivers out, but it features more slow corners, which will favour some cars more than others.
About Adam Cooper
Adam Cooper logs his 40th season as a motor racing journalist in 2024. Motor racing journalist, author, historian and copywriter. Started writing career in 1985 while still at university, and has been at every Formula One Grand Prix since Japan 1994 without missing one. He contributed to Autosport for nearly 40 years, while other clients have included Motor Sport, Autoweek, Racer, Road and Track, F1 Racing and The Sun.
