2025 Bahrain Grand Prix Preview: 5 Big Talking Points Heading into the Weekend

We Need to Talk about Overtaking!

I’m starting off strong here because as much as we could talk about which drivers and teams need to perform (we’ll get to that afterwards), we have to talk about how poor the Racing has been this season. The field is super close, which is amazing, and it means we get fantastic Qualifying Sessions every week because a couple of tenths could be the difference from being towards the front or not even making it into Q3 itself! However, the dirty air off these 2025 cars is so bad that it’s almost impossible to overtake, and it’s meant that the two dry Races we’ve had so far this season had been pretty poor! Now, I am confident this weekend will be better because Bahrain is a good track for overtaking, even going back to the previous generation of cars (that also had major issues with dirty air). However, this weekend better be better because otherwise, Formula 1 is going to have some serious problems on their hands!

A Bunch of FP1 Rookies

Free Practice 1 around the Bahrain International Circuit should prove to actually be one of the most exciting Practice Sessions of the weekend as we currently have 6 Rookie drivers stepping in for the session! Firstly, Ryo Hirakawa is back for a second-straight weekend, except this time he’s driving for Haas in place of Oliver Bearman! Former Formula Regional European Champion Dino Beganovic makes his F1 debut for Ferrari (replacing Charles Leclerc) whilst former F2 runner-up Frederik Vesti gets his first outing of the year for Mercedes (in place of George Russell)! 2022’s Formula 2 Champion Felipe Drugovich is also back for another year as he takes Fernando Alonso’s place at Aston Martin whilst the really talented Ayumu Iwasa gets a go at Red Bull (alongside fellow Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda)! And finally, former British F4 and GB3 Champion Luke Browning gets a go in Carlos Sainz’s Williams, and he’s probably the driver I’m most intrigued about! So, there’s clearly a lot of talent here, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how they all get on!

Lando VS Oscar

We’re 3 Rounds into the 2025 Formula 1 Season, and it’s very clear that McLaren have the fastest car on the Grid! They also arguably have the best driver lineup on the Grid too so as of right now, it’s fair to say that they should be winning the Constructors’ Championship quite comfortably this season! However, the more interesting thing is the battle between their two drivers. Now, it’s clear that Oscar Piastri has taken another step up, and in all 3 Races so far, he has been close to Lando Norris on track. Now, in Australia, Piastri made a mistake whilst Norris was supreme and took a fantastic win, in China Oscar was simply quicker and won because of it, and in Japan, their pace was pretty evenly matched. Now, Bahrain is the first Race of the season where overtaking should be possible, so I think there could be a fascinating scrap between Lando and Oscar this weekend!

Alpine Need Points!

2024 started horrendously for Alpine, but a terrific end to the season meant they ended up finishing 6th, a position that most people expected them to be from the start! Heading into 2025, there was definitely more hype and belief around the team, Pierre Gasly certainly seemed a lot happier in Pre-Season Testing this year than 12 months prior, but results haven’t exactly been better! After 3 weekends, Alpine are last in the Constructors’ Standings, and what’s worse is they’re the only team yet to get off the mark! Now, in my opinion, Alpine don’t have the worst car, I mean Pierre hasn’t been far off points in any weekend so far this season, and even Jack Doohan’s results haven’t seen him be right at the back (certainly in the Races)! However, the Enstone-based team haven’t been able to put another performance together to score good points like some of their Rivals have, and that’s why they’re last. Ultimately, Alpine need points, and Bahrain should be a better circuit for them!

How Far Can Max Verstappen Carry Red Bull?

Last weekend in Japan was another example of why Max Verstappen should be considered as one of the greatest Formula 1 Drivers of all time! That Red Bull had no right to be on Pole, maybe not even on the Podium, but Max delivered a special performance to take his first victory of the season. Because of this, Verstappen is now just 1 point off the Championship lead and a better result than Lando Norris this weekend would see him already take back a lead that a lot of people didn’t think he’d ever have this year. The reason I ask this question is because Red Bull are struggling, they’ve been going backwards since the start of 2024, and they need to find performance to help Max fight for a 5th World Championship because as great as Verstappen is, he can’t do it on his own! At a track like Bahrain, winning will be a much harder challenge for Max and Red Bull, yet you cannot rule him out for a second!

My Predictions for Sakhir Qualifying

1. Charles Leclerc

2. Oscar Piastri

3. Lando Norris

4. George Russell

5. Max Verstappen