Winners and losers from the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

Winner: Oscar Piastri

It’s one thing being the favourite on paper, but it’s another thing to deliver out on track.

Piastri has looked in fine form so far this weekend, not putting a foot wrong; even as others around him found more pace, he was always half a yard ahead.

His team-mate’s struggles mean he can go into a race without ‘papaya rules’ floating around him, and if he gets a good start, it is hard to see how anyone will keep close to him.

Loser: Lando Norris

Formula 1 can be a cruel business where even the most minor of mistakes have severe consequences.

Norris had always been trailing his team-mate but in a desperation to pinch pole in Bahrain, he made a mistake that sent him tumbling down the order.

For a driver with championship ambitions, it is a hammer blow with him five spots behind his teammate Piastri and crucially just one ahead of title rival Max Verstappen.

Unlike Suzuka, Bahrain is a track you can overtake on, suggesting Norris should be able to make up some lost ground in the race but it is hard to see how in a normal race he overtakes his team-mate on Sunday.

Winner: Carlos Sainz

A welcome return to form for Carlos Sainz, who not only made it to Q3 for the second time this season but scored his best quali result since he swapped the red of Ferrari for the white of Williams.

Of course, the hard work comes on Sunday but Albon has shown this season that the Williams car is not an easy car to overtake.

Barring a major error, it is hard to see how Sainz does not add to his points tally this weekend.

Loser: Race control/the stewards

Those paying attention to the timing screens in Q3 would have noticed the name Nico Hulkenberg not only slip down to the bottom of the Q2 runners but go one spot further as a lap he put in during Q1 was found to breach track limits.

The only problem was that the decision was made 40 minutes after the event which had a particularly poor consequence for Alex Albon.

The Williams driver should have been allowed to make it to Q2 but instead found himself back in that garage in an embarrassing show for the sport’s referees.

Winner: Mercedes

Of the four big teams, it is Mercedes who have perhaps slipped under the radar so far this season, but in the background, they have created arguably the second quickest car on the field.

The W16 is a wind and weather-dependent car but when the conditions are right, both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell have been able to extract strong pace from it.

P2 would have been the best Russell could reasonably hope for given the pace of Piastri, and Antonelli in fourth means Mercedes can be more tactical than those around them.

Loser: Haas

A driver last and the other in the wall represents a very bad session for Haas.

The first disappointment came from Oliver Bearman when a sector two mistake put him 20th in Q1, bringing a swift halt to his strong momentum of the year so far.

Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon lost it coming out of Turn 2 for a heavy crash into the barriers. Hulkenberg’s deleted lap means Ocon is at least 14th but it is quite the repair job for the Haas crew to get the car back into one piece.

Winner: Pierre Gasly

Towards the end of 2024, we saw this ability from Pierre Gasly of producing some excellent quali laps, and while that had been so far nonexistent this season, the trait came roaring back in Bahrain.

A time of 1:30.216 put him ahead of Norris and Verstappen and fifth on the grid was a just reward for his efforts.

It may be a challenge to hold both the McLaren and Red Bull back in Sunday’s race but Gasly looks certain to break his duck for the season so far.

Loser: Aston Martin

The fact that Fernando Alonso counted what was then P14 as a good result reflects just where Aston Martin are at the moment.

Comfortably the fifth-best team last season, the Silverstone squad have slipped so far down the order that it is hard to see any of their drivers scoring points this Sunday.

Lance Stroll in particular disappointed, following up his P20 in Japan’s quali with P19 here.

More reaction from quali in Bahrain

Lewis Hamilton ‘really sorry’ to Ferrari as untelevised radio message surfaces

Norris ‘clueless on track’ as Bahrain GP qualy disaster triggers brutal response

Winner: Charles Lelerc

A bit of light at the end of the Ferrari tunnel for Charles Leclerc who perhaps put his car higher than it deserved to be.

With Lewis Hamilton struggling down in ninth, responsibility fell on Leclerc who looked the only driver capable of sticking with the McLarens.

In the end, Russell raised his game for P2 but P3 was a welcome surprise for Leclerc who is still on the hunt for his first podium of the year.

Loser: Red Bull

Even the skill of Verstappen could not lift the RB21 into contention.

The Dutchman bailed on his opening run in all three of the sessions while Yuki Tsunoda found it just as difficult to keep it within the white lines.

The result was a P7 and P10 for a team that has more questions than answers currently.