Formula 1 News: Oscar Piastri wins pole for the Bahrain GP (Update)

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli have received a one-place grid drop each for a Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying infraction.

Russell loses his front-row spot to Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, while Alpine driver Pierre Gasly is promoted to fourth on the grid and Antonelli demoted to 5th.

After Q2 was red flagged for a crash for Haas driver Esteban Ocon, both Mercedes drivers were sent out into the pitlane before race control had announced a restart time, which is not allowed by the sporting regulations. As such both Mercedes drivers receive a one-place grid drop for Sunday’s grand prix.

See updated results table below

Oscar Piastri turned a lap of 1m29.841s in his superior Flexi-Wing McLaren to win the pole position for the 2025 Bahrain GP F1 race at the Bahrain International Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

It’s pole number two for Oscar Piastri, this time the Australian grabbing his first Pole in Bahrain.

“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,” said Piastri.

“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.”

The Mercedes of George Russell will start on the outside of the front row, 0.168s behind Piastri who also topped Practice 3.

“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,” said a happy Russell. “The nighttime coming in, the temperatures getting cooler – earlier when it was roasting hot, the McLarens were down the road.”

Charles Leclerc put his upgraded Ferrari third on the grid, 0.334s behind Piastri.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect P3. At the beginning of Q3 everything felt really bad with the old tires, but as soon as we put on the new tires 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.”

Russell’s Mercedes teammate, Kimi Antonelli, will start 4th, 0.372s behind the McLaren of Piastri.

Pierre Gasly was a surprise 5th for Alpine, 0.375s behind Piastri.

Lando Norris screwed up his final lap in Turn 1 and will start down in 6th in the other Flexi-Wing McLaren, 0.426s behind his teammate.

“I’m just not quick enough,” said a very downcast Norris. He doesn’t really want to answer the questions, and looks fairly devastated.

Max Verstappen will start 7th in the Red Bull Honda sled, 0.582s behind Piastri.

Carlos Sainz Jr.delivered his strongest Qualifying session of the season so far to take eighth, with Lewis Hamilton ninth in the sister Ferrari after one of his laps was deleted over track limits, and Yuki Tsunoda completing the top 10 after putting his Red Bull in Q3.

Esteban Ocon had a big shunt in Q2 and his Haas team has a lot of work to do to fix the car before the race.

Mercedes used all their sets of softs in Qualifying – McLaren did not, they have held a set back for the race just in case.

After such a strong start to 2025, Alex Albon suffered his first big setback with a Q1 exit – the Williams driver unable to match the pace of new team mate Carlos Sainz on the decisive final runs – though Nico Hulkenberg’s delayed deleted lap time saw him promoted to 15th. In contrast, the Kick Sauber racer placed 16th.

Liam Lawson was another disappointed driver in 17th, having experienced an apparent Drag Reduction System problem aboard his Racing Bulls car, with Sauber youngster Gabriel Bortoleto and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll following in 18th and 19th.

2025 Bahrain GP Qualifying Results (UPDATED)