Formula 1 News: 2025 Bahrain GP Friday Press Conference
Three F1 Team Representatives met with the assembled media on Friday ahead of the 2025 Bahrain GP at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Practice on Friday was dominated by the McLaren team.
2025 BAHRAIN GP TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:
- James VOWLES (Williams)
- Jonathan WHEATLEY (Kick Sauber),
- Andrea STELLA (McLaren)
Q: James, why don’t we start with you. A quick word on the job you think Luke Browning did in FP1? There was a close call between both of your drivers at one point.
James VOWLES: Yeah, I mean, that’s not on Luke, that’s on us. Luke did a brilliant job. I’m not sure how much you followed it, but fundamentally he was doing a lot of aerodynamic work for us. It’s an opportunity to come back to where we were testing before, or with a car that’s slightly different, and just make sure we understand what’s changed, how it’s adapted. In that case, Luke was doing a number of in/out runs and we only gave him one timed lap on the Soft. For his only lap, I don’t think it’s a bad effort putting him P13 on the timesheet. So, really, really happy with the work he did.
Q: Let’s bring it onto the bigger picture now. You’ve already exceeded your points tally from 2024 – 19 this year, 17 last year. When you look at the performance of the car, is that what you’ve been expecting?
JV: It’s always hard to adjudicate a level of performance because it’s relative. Just putting some numbers to that – I think 60 milliseconds separated five cars in Q3 last week. The midfield is incredibly tight. So Q1 does not feel comfortable. You’re scraping through by about a tenth and a half, and it may not even feel comfortable McLaren – it’s just awfully tight now. To score those points – I mean, when you say those words, honestly, what it really does to me is, I regret last year. It was just a very poor year for us, as how I see it. But I think more importantly, it’s a demonstration that we’re on a good pathway to improving the car year-on-year. What’s really going to shake out is how all that midfield develops against one another across the next 10 races or so.
Q: You talk about improving the car. Are we seeing an improved Alex Albon this year? He’s scored the majority of points for you, and he’s got through to Q3 at every race so far. Is he a better driver this year than last?
JV: Yeah, I think undoubtedly. I remember the day I joined – I’ve known him since 2016 – but the day I joined, I think he’d been through a lot, is probably the polite way of putting it. You saw a step from him every single year, and this year he’s really not putting a foot wrong. I can’t fault anything that he’s doing. It’s absolutely on the money in terms of delivering. He knew he had to step up with Carlos in the car, and he has.
Q: A word on Carlos. He spoke about the difficulties of changing teams and power units. What kind of a job do you feel he’s done so far this year?
JV: I’ve said it already – there are two ways to assess performance for a driver. The first is what they’re doing in the car, and it will take him time. Our car has a very different style of adapting to it than the Ferrari. He’s getting there. I think Japan already was a large step in performance. As I said to everyone else – the last person to win a race is him, and he knows how to do this. He’ll be on the money very shortly. In terms of what he’s doing, even out of the car – the car is faster thanks to the work and effort, the work ethic he’s put in, and how he really develops with the engineers. That’s why Carlos was my number one target. It’s because he’s absolutely brilliant at developing teams, and he’s already bringing that to the table. And then above that, as you saw, he’s a part-time strategist – but quite good in that regard. Part of the reason why we have the points score is thanks to his help supporting Alex.
Q: Have his difficulties been exaggerated by the closeness of the field?
JV: I don’t think so. I use relative gaps, as does he. Yes, the difference now is when you’re a tenth off, there’s four cars that shuffle in between the two. But it’s a relative numbers game. Between him and Alex, I don’t think there’ll be a millisecond to spare when both are on song. That’s what he’s reviewing. That’s what I’m reviewing as well.
Q: Thank you for that, James. I’m sure there’ll be more questions. Talking of changing teams, Jonathan, welcome to the FIA press conference. New team, new role for you this year as well. How are you settling into those two arenas?
Jonathan WHEATLEY: Well, actually I was just saying to the guys before we came in here, it’s exciting. I’m re-energized. There’s an energy in the company in this transition from Sauber to the Audi Formula 1 project. I feel like I’m in absolutely the right place, to be honest. My family and I, we’ve moved to Switzerland – an amazing country, which I had kind of driven through but never stayed in. Honestly, we’re making a home for ourselves, and I feel very, very at home at Sauber.
Q: You’ve spent many years observing team principals. How are you approaching the role yourself?
JW: For those that don’t know, I started in Formula 1 as a mechanic back in 1991 and forged my own path. I had a decision to make – whether I went down the technical route and became more of a chief engineer-type role, or whether I would go into management. I’m a people person, and it’s the people that excited me. It’s the working in a team and creating a team that excites me. I’ve developed my own techniques for that. Everyone that holds a team principal position seems to do it in a slightly different way, but I think everyone at my level understands what a team involves.
Q: What are your first impressions of Sauber?
JW: Honestly, really positive. There’s a great energy in the team. There’s an excitement about the project moving forward. Some of these guys will know what it’s like to be in a smaller team that’s getting bigger. The people there, they look you in the eye. There’s an energy which I’m feeding off. It feels like a really great time to be there.
Q: And you come from World Championship winners Red Bull. What are the biggest differences between what you experienced there and what you’re seeing now at Sauber in Hinwil?
JW: I’m about two weeks into the job. I’m trying to use my eyes, ears, and mouth in proportion – which is unusual for me – and I’m just taking on as much information as I can at the moment. I have a plan, and I need to keep referring to that and remember what my views were when I came in. But largely, as I sit here today, I’m just encouraged by the energy and excitement in the organization.
Q: Have you given the team a goal for the season?
JW: I’m working towards setting my goals and mid-term plan, then looking at long-term planning after that. As I say – two weeks into the job – I’ve spent nearly as much time in the air as I have in the factory, so I’m still listening and learning at the moment.
Q: Thank you for that. Andrea, thank you for waiting. Been a very strong start to the season for McLaren. You’re leading both World Championships. How do you view your advantage over the rest of the field at the moment?
Andrea STELLA: The MCL39 is certainly a competitive car. It’s faster than last year’s car, which was already fast and reliable. We needed to embrace some innovation and courage to change pretty much the entire car. I cannot thank enough all the men and women at McLaren that delivered the performance we gave ourselves as an objective. Having said that, I think the margins are very small. They keep being small. If we look at China in qualifying, it was a bit of a mixed bag. Japan – in qualifying we got beaten, in the race we got beaten. So I think we have to be quite realistic as to the situation in terms of performance. I hear sometimes talk about dominance, which I think is out of place – sometimes it’s pronounced by our competitors. Clearly everyone knows the game, everyone knows how to put pressure or attempt to put pressure on the rivals. But we are very grounded people. In fairness, we are very calm. We’re not going to get into this kind of bait. We know that we have to work hard to exploit the potential of the MCL39, and we have to work hard to keep improving the car.
Q: But was Suzuka a wake-up call for the team, or was it a specific set of circumstances that resulted in Max Verstappen getting the win?
AS: Yeah. But you know, Tom, in line with what I’ve just said, we didn’t need any wake-up call because we were not sleeping, and certainly we were not dreaming. We were wide awake, knowing that if we don’t capitalize on the full performance of the car, then we will be beaten. And if we capitalize, we may win by a very small margin. So for us, this is what we talk about in the team. These are the conversations that happen within the team. All the rest, for me, seems to be a bit built up externally, but it doesn’t represent what is in the numbers, in our view.
Q: If we listen to some of your rivals, you’re going to win this race by a mile here in Bahrain. How confident are you coming into the rest of the weekend?
AS: That’s interesting, because my expectation is that Bahrain is the most difficult venue for McLaren of the first part of the season. I think during the test I’m not sure we saw that we were enjoying any advantage in terms of first lap. The only thing we saw is that the car is gentle on the tires, which is a feature we couldn’t exploit very much in Suzuka, which was a very low-degradation circuit. This one is a high-degradation circuit, so if anything, that could be our strength. But to capitalize on this strength, you have to qualify well. You don’t have to be stuck in traffic. There are a few things that we need to get right. And yet, in this kind of low-speed dominated configuration, I’m not sure that McLaren will enjoy much advantage at all.
Q: You mentioned qualifying. Lando doing a tremendous job as he has done for many years now. Oscar, it feels, has stepped up. It was 21–3, the intra-team battle between them last year. Has Oscar stepped up? Has he found more pace over one lap?
AS: Yeah, I think you’re right. I think we see that Oscar is just more confident in qualifying. He’s just more capable of putting things together. I think he has more awareness, which comes with experience, which comes with all the analysis that has been going on during the winter. So we see a stronger Oscar, like we see, as usual, a very strong Lando. But for me, again coming back to the competitiveness of McLaren, what I see – and I still look at quite a lot of telemetry myself – is two drivers that push each other and pick from each other. If you see Free Practice 1, they’re almost complementary as to where they go fast and slow. So they can see quite a lot of opportunities. And then I see the synergy. And the synergy means an elevation of the game. So for me, if anything, that’s what I see has mostly changed compared to the past. We can see it as car performance, but for me it’s a combination of car performance and what the drivers are able to achieve, elevating their own games.
2025 BAHRAIN GP QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for you Andrea. You explained after Japan why you did the strategy you did. Without going into any specifics there, do you think at some point of the season it’s more about being a bit more aggressive on the strategy side and not so conservative? And on the other side, people were saying that McLaren had it easy because it was two McLarens versus one Red Bull. But do you think it could be even more difficult because you also have Oscar versus Lando in the Championship?
AS: In terms of the race in Suzuka, like always, we took a good look at where the opportunities could be to win the race. I think the opportunities, if anything, were identified in the early phase of the race where we could have potentially been more aggressive in attempting to undercut Max. This would not have been executed without a significant amount of risk – going in traffic at a circuit where you have low degradation and difficulties to overtake. It could have gone pretty wrong in case of a Safety Car, and in an attempt to win, you may lose a few positions. So it’s the normal kind of trade-off that you have when you manage race strategy. But we need to be wary that Suzuka in 2025 wasn’t the usual Suzuka. I think many people who make comment struggled to realize that it’s a different context.
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) Where exactly is Lando uncomfortable with the car, and what are his struggles when it comes to getting a good feeling with it?
AS: Yes, actually you are right. I think on Lando’s side, there’s especially a particular phase of driving the car that doesn’t make him entirely comfortable. I think we’ve achieved a very good understanding of what that is. It would be inappropriate to share the details, but let me say that even for this race, we’ve made some adjustments to the car – going back to some solutions that we think may improve the predictability of the car in relation to Lando’s driving input. So it’s actually an interesting weekend even from this point of view, and we look forward to seeing what we will learn.
Q: (Adam Cooper – adamcooperF1.com) For all three of you. Obviously there’s a lot of talk about 2026 at the moment. What are your simulations telling you about the cars and the power units? What kind of racing are we going to see? What concerns do you have about that package?
JV: I mean, it’s early days because we’re still developing the car and the winter regs have only been in for a few months now. But I’m not seeing the stark concerns that are coming out of other corners. For us, the racing looks actually pretty good at the moment. I think it’ll be pretty good from a spectator perspective. The wake is better, following will be better – so I’m not overly concerned. The biggest thing I probably have is the weight target. It’s a good idea to reduce the weight, but that’s a tough call for all teams. That’s the only thing coming out of our side.
JW: You’ll probably appreciate that as I was leaving my last company, I wasn’t heavily involved in the development of the ‘26 car. I haven’t really had that come across my desk yet here. What I would say, because the whole subject is being discussed at the moment, is that there was, I think, a very open and productive and collaborative discussion today with all the major stakeholders. From what I understand, it’s got the best interests of Formula 1 at heart. That was the basis of the entire conversation, and the feedback I’ve had was very encouraging. What I would say just talking about 2026 is that Audi is very clear about its position. The reason they’ve got involved in the sport is the excitement around the three pillars that we see as really important – the first one being a highly efficient engine, the second one being an advanced hybrid system, and of course, sustainable fuels being the bedrock of that.
AS: I would like to, if anything, emphasize the point that Jonathan made about the interest of the sport. When we talk about future regulations – we haven’t even started 2026, and we are already talking about something else. I would like to invoke a sense of responsibility by all the stakeholders, because we are here to protect the interests of the sport. I wouldn’t want us to undermine what could be actually successful regulations. They may need some tuning and adjustments – but that’s what we are here for. Let’s define exactly the technical challenge and resolve it. Let’s all work collaboratively toward the interest of the sport, which comes when we have a good product. I think we can have a good product in 2026. We just have to work toward it.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) One for you, Jonathan. You’ve had one whole weekend to see how the team operates. When it comes to the operational side, trackside – which is an area you’re very experienced in – what did you see from last week? Where do you see the level is? How do you benchmark this team compared to your previous one, which obviously set the standards – whether comparing to where that team is now or when you first joined? How long will it take to raise Sauber up to that standard and beyond?
JW: First of all, it’s an interesting question – obviously a question I’ve been asking myself before I joined the team and taking on the learnings from the first race. I arrived a bit later than I would have done normally, didn’t really have time to immerse myself. I’ve given myself a target for the first three races – it’s a triple-header – and it’s very interesting to see how a team performs over a triple-header, whether there’s accident damage, how you recover from that, fatigue – you get a really good picture of how a team operates at the end of that period. I’m trying not to jump to any conclusions. I’m using a lot of pen ink at the moment – making notes and trying to put those notes into structure. I’ll say I’m encouraged with the openness and willingness to learn that I’ve experienced in the team so far, and the positive energy. It’s a people business. If you don’t have that creative energy, you’re not going to keep moving forward. That’s our plan – just keep building on these little bits of momentum.
Q: (Ian Parkes – RacingNews365) Another question for yourself, Jonathan. You worked alongside one of the foremost team principals of the past two decades. What have you learned from him that will stand you in good stead in your new role?
JW: I think I’ve learned from everybody that I’ve worked with in this business over the last 34 years. I wouldn’t focus particularly on one individual, because there’s a learning exercise in this job every single day. I’ve been open to learning, open to listening, watching how people react. People that you respect, people you’ve worked with for a long time – I worked at the last team for 19 years. I want to be my own team principal. I want to lead the team, along with Mattia, in my own way. I’ve always been pretty sure of my own thoughts and my own views. I have a plan for how we can start this transformation journey and carry the momentum through. And I’ll keep referring to it but it’s about the people – the people in the team. That’s my focus.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) For all three of you. We got news yesterday that Robert Reid resigned as the Deputy President for Sport at the FIA. He cited the governance crisis. How concerned are you by current goings on at the FIA?
JV: Thank you. So, I knew Robert well and I think he’s a good individual. He clearly understands the sport. Where we are – I can’t comment on why he resigned because it wasn’t detailed inside his note either, particularly why and what concerns he had in that regard. That’s something very much between him and what happened at the FIA. What I can say is this: we need arbitration, but the key behind all of this is that we all have the same goal, which is the best interest of the sport. What we need is a sport that fundamentally is moving forward in harmony with one another. There are bits that aren’t quite where they need to be at the moment, but that just needs to be resolved through conversation. With Robert though, I wish him all the best. As I say, he’s a brilliant character.
JW: I think I would just say – it looks like it’s a private matter being dealt with in public. I don’t have any comment on it, much like I wouldn’t like the FIA to comment on how I run my team.
AS: I don’t have anything to add. I share exactly what James and Jonathan said.
Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) To Jonathan. You’ve come from decades of experience in British racing teams and the heart of British motorsport valley. You’ve gone to a Swiss team that’s been by itself in kind of Switzerland for 30 years. It’s about to become a German car manufacturer works team. What are the complications in marrying all these cultures, and what identity are you looking for this team to have going forward?
JW: Well, as you say – it’s simple! It’s part of the challenge, part of the fun and excitement I have around starting this new role at this new team. What I’ve found is, at the moment, I’m not seeing any issues in terms of the language – the language of the team, the way people are getting on. There’s an openness to learning. I’m going to try to learn German – but I don’t want anyone testing me on that in the short term, please. It’s part of the challenge of the role and, as you know, we’re looking to expand our horizons a little bit. You’re right – it’s a small team that’s in the transition phase to becoming a fully-fledged works Formula 1 team. There’s a myriad of projects that we need to get right. And one of those is meshing the people together. As a team, we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, because change is coming. We have to be at the forefront of that and we need to have a clear road map as to where we’re headed – and I believe we’re on that road map at the moment.
Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) James, you talked about Carlos and the positive influence he’s had on the team. How do you manage the introduction of a change agent when you have an established way of doing things? How do you balance those new ideas and the quality of them?
JV: It’s a good question. What I think we’ve created in Williams across the last 12 months is – we’ve grown by something like 300 people. We’ve brought in expertise from pretty much every team on the grid. One of the things we’ve been good at doing is creating a culture of acceptance – that we are not world champions and we have not been world champions for 20 (sic) years. Therefore, every opinion has value, and every individual has a voice at the table. It’s a flat structure. I believe that everyone has the potential to have ideas that will move us forward – and Carlos is no different. He fits into that structure really well. He doesn’t have any politics in him whatsoever. He just wants the team to be quicker. For that matter, Alex does too. I haven’t actually had to do a tremendous amount apart from that initial – almost laying the law down that we are not world championship material. And by the way, even if we were and we were winning races, you can still be learning. You have to outlearn your rivals, you have to out-develop your rivals. That culture is fundamental to a successful racing team. But what really helps with it is that Carlos just has a manner to him that is constructive. It’s not about him. It’s about ‘if we do this, we will find performance together’ – and that brings everyone on the journey.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Andrea, a question for you. You talked about the possible aggression you could have done with strategy in Suzuka. Lando spoke yesterday about his approach to risk and obviously in a championship fight, that does change a little bit. How have you changed your approach to risk compared to previous years? Do you sort of have the long game more in mind now that you’re at the forefront of the field?
AS: If we use Suzuka as an example, I don’t think we would have approached that race very differently if it was located in a different time of the season. Unless, let’s say, it’s the last race of the season and you know the championships are decided – then you may go for a very aggressive one and say, “OK, let’s try to win. It can go very wrong.” Obviously, at the start of the season, you don’t approach things like this. But in general, I would like to stress that the downsides of an aggressive strategy in that case could have been quite considerable. So yeah, there’s a bit of influence if you want, being at the start of the season and letting some races unfold, learn a bit more – but not substantial.
Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) Another one for Andrea. Looking back at Suzuka – you’ve talked about the benefits of both drivers pushing each other on, and it’s great for the team and the Constructors’ Championship. But do you think there are downsides from having to treat two drivers fighting equally for the championship when it comes to races? And are you prepared for the day where you might have to make a call that’s going to favour one of them in a bid to win a race and the other one’s going to be upset?
AS: I can’t exclude that this may happen. Like I said before, there are advantages to having two extremely competitive drivers. I think the advantage in the long term is dominant – that’s what you want, in my view. But there could be episodically some situations which may leave one of the two drivers a little upset because the team needed to make a decision, or because of how the race unfolded. So we are very, very aware of this. Internally, we don’t talk about “if this happens”, we talk about “when this happens,” because we are aware it’s a very difficult business. We are aware as a team – and Lando and Oscar are aware as well.