Bahrain GP 2025: Piastri wins as Norris recovers from a penalty

Oscar Piastri won the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position on 13 April, 15.5 seconds clear of George Russell's Mercedes. Lando Norris came back from a penalty to finish third, 0.774 seconds behind Russell. It was McLaren's first win at Sakhir and Piastri's second of 2025, in his 50th Grand Prix start.

How Piastri won in Bahrain

Piastri took pole ahead of Russell, but the Mercedes started third. Both Mercedes drivers dropped one place after the team released them to the end of the pit lane before the restart time was confirmed, during the red flag for Esteban Ocon's Q2 crash. That put Charles Leclerc's Ferrari second on the grid and Pierre Gasly's Alpine fourth.

Russell passed Leclerc at the start and locked up into Turn 1, close enough to the McLaren to make the pit wall wince. After that, Piastri was on his own. He pitted on lap 15 and kept control of the race. The only interruption came past half distance, when debris from contact between Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz brought out the safety car. Piastri lost his lead, then pulled away again after the restart on lap 35.

Sainz later retired with damage, the only driver not to finish. Russell stayed out on softs during the safety car and ran them for the last 24 laps, with gearbox and DRS problems to manage. The stewards looked at a DRS infringement after the flag and let his second place stand once the circumstances were explained.

Norris made the bigger effort. He jumped from sixth to third at the start, but he had lined up out of position in his grid box. The five-second penalty, served at his stop on lap 11, dropped him to 14th. He worked back, swapped places with Leclerc several times and made the move stick on lap 52. Russell's ailing Mercedes was next, and Norris ran out of laps.

Norris vs Piastri and the other teammate duels

McLaren. Piastri beat Norris on Saturday and on Sunday, and he did it without anyone's help. On F1 Duels, their 2025 head-to-head is now 2–2 in qualifying and 2–2 in races. Four rounds in, there is nothing between them.

Mercedes. Russell's afternoon looks even better next to Kimi Antonelli's. The rookie started fifth and finished 11th, out of the points. In our count, Russell vs Antonelli stands 4–0 in qualifying and 4–0 in races.

Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton had his best Q3 lap deleted for track limits and started ninth. He was quick on fresh tyres and finished fifth, his best Grand Prix result for Ferrari, eight seconds behind Leclerc. Leclerc lost a place to Russell at the start and the podium to Norris late on, and still leads Hamilton vs Leclerc 3–1 on Saturdays and 3–0 on Sundays in our count.

Red Bull. Max Verstappen lost time at both pit stops, one of them with a stubborn front-right wheel, complained about his brakes and finished sixth after a late pass on Gasly. Tsunoda took ninth, his first points as a Red Bull driver. The score between them is still 2–0 in both columns.

Gasly's seventh place gave Alpine their first points of the season. Ocon recovered from his crash to finish eighth, with Oliver Bearman tenth from the back of the grid. Nico Hülkenberg was disqualified from 13th because the plank on his Sauber had worn below the 9mm minimum.

What it means for the championship

Norris leaves Bahrain on 77 points, three ahead of Piastri. Verstappen is third on 69 and Russell fourth on 63. In the constructors' table McLaren lead Mercedes by 58 points. Every teammate verdict from Sakhir is on the Bahrain GP duels page.