There are four different cars in the top four places but can any of them take the fight to McLaren? Here’s your race strategy dashboard for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Weather
There are no surprises in the weather forecast for Sunday. It will be another blazing hot day, though track temperatures will be cooling by the time the grand prix starts.
The Bahrain Grand Prix is taking place later in the season than it has for several years. The 2018 race was held on April 8th, five days earlier, and on the hotter track the podium finishers were all able to make their tyres last long enough to finish the race with a single pit stop each, aided by a two-lap Safety Car period early on.
It’s by no means certain they will do the same this year. But as overtaking has become more difficult with the current generation of cars, it will be a goal.
Start
The run to turn one at the Bahrain International Circuit is slightly longer than at the previous three venues and the first corner is much tighter. That creates a higher opportunity for the drivers immediately behind the pole winner to attack them at the start.
Distance from pole position to first braking zone. Source: Mercedes
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Charles Leclerc will start from second on the grid this year, as he did in 2024. On that occasion Max Verstappen gave a textbook demonstration of how to keep the lead from pole position:
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Strategy
Last year every driver started the race on the same tyre compound:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Tyre compound |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Soft |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Soft |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | Soft |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | Soft |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Soft |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Soft |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | Soft |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | Soft |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Soft |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | Soft |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | Soft |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Soft |
| 13 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | Soft |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | Soft |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | Soft |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | Soft |
| 17 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | Soft |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | Soft |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | Soft |
| 20 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | Soft |
“Everyone’s got very different tyres up and down the grid,” pole winner Oscar Piastri observed after qualifying. “George has only got one hard and one medium. Charles and I have got two mediums. Max has got two hards, so it’s a bit of a mix.”
A pit stop takes around 24 seconds in Bahrain. The aggressive nature of the track surface makes the ‘undercut’ very powerful, so a driver such as Verstappen with two new sets of hards could run an attacking strategy by starting on (used) softs and making two early tyre changes. This was the preferred strategy of most teams last year with the notable exception of the then-dominant Red Bull drivers, who finished first and second on soft-hard-soft strategies.
| Tyres available for the race | Hard | Medium | Soft | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | New | Used | New | Used | New | Used |
| Lando Norris | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Oscar Piastri | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Charles Leclerc | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| George Russell | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Lance Stroll | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Fernando Alonso | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Jack Doohan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Pierre Gasly | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Esteban Ocon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Oliver Bearman | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Isack Hadjar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Liam Lawson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Alexander Albon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
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Overtaking
There have been no changes to the three DRS zones at the Bahrain circuit this year.
Speed trap
The Ferraris are up towards the top of the speed traps, which may make them more inclined to risk a strategy which involves overtaking.
| P. | # | Driver | Car | Engine | Model | Max kph (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-25 | 327.3 (203.4) |
| 2 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | Ferrari | C45 | 325.4 (202.2) |
| 3 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | Mercedes | FW47 | 323.1 (200.8) |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-25 | 322.3 (200.3) |
| 5 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | Honda RBPT | 02 | 321.4 (199.7) |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda RBPT | RB21 | 320.9 (199.4) |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR25 | 320.0 (198.8) |
| 8 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | Ferrari | C45 | 319.8 (198.7) |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Renault | A525 | 319.7 (198.7) |
| 10 | 7 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | Renault | A525 | 319.4 (198.5) |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | Mercedes | W16 | 318.9 (198.2) |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | Ferrari | VF-25 | 318.8 (198.1) |
| 13 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL39 | 317.6 (197.3) |
| 14 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | Mercedes | W16 | 317.3 (197.2) |
| 15 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | Honda RBPT | 02 | 317.1 (197.0) |
| 16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR25 | 317.1 (197.0) |
| 17 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams | Mercedes | FW47 | 316.7 (196.8) |
| 18 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL39 | 316.6 (196.7) |
| 19 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | Honda RBPT | RB21 | 315.9 (196.3) |
| 20 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | Ferrari | VF-25 | 313.9 (195.0) |
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Safety Cars
There have been few significant Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car appearances in recent races. None occured last year, and the only disruptions in the previous two seasons came after most drivers had made their pit stops. However many drivers did use the opportunity to fit fresh tyres on those occasions.
Grid
The grid for this year’s race is as follows. Any changes between now and the start of the race will be added here:
Over to you
Will Piastri become the first repeat grand prix winner of the season in the Bahrain Grand Prix? What will championship leaders Lando Norris and Max Verstappen salvage from their lower starting positions?
Share your predictions in the comments.
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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix