IT’S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we’re excited about ahead of the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix

The races are coming thick and fast at the start of the 2025 season and we’re into the middle of our first triple header. It’s a familiar venue at least as the teams return to the site of pre-season testing, but that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of talking points on arrival in Bahrain.

A tense title fight developing

The race itself at the Japanese Grand Prix was not a classic. We saw plenty of high-level driving with few mistakes across the grid as the drivers were all pushing to the limit for much of the race, but it did lead to a bit of a stalemate even if the pressure was high.

But those sorts of races still play a vital role in a championship, and as the season progresses everyone will be looking at the points situation more than how dramatic certain rounds were. And Suzuka certainly added to the excitement at the front in that sense.

Max Verstappen taking his first win of the season in Japan moved him to within a single point of championship leader Lando Norris after three rounds. The McLaren does look to be the quickest car but not by a big enough margin to dominate entire weekends, and that left the door open for Verstappen to do something special with his Qualifying lap.

SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 06: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing — Verstappen took a sublime victory last time out in Japan

When you include Lewis Hamilton’s victory from pole position in the Sprint in China, we’ve had four different winners from four different race events, and all four started on pole. That shows how competitive it is this season but also how important clean air appears to be.

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Oscar Piastri is the other race winner and his third place in Japan leaves him 13 points off the championship lead, and he was right on his team mate’s tail throughout Sunday's race. Add in George Russell four points further back, after a small mistake in Qualifying limited him to fifth at Suzuka, and there are at least four drivers with serious designs on the title.

Chances for Tsunoda and Lawson to progress

The big story heading into the Suzuka weekend was the driver swap at Red Bull, that saw Yuki Tsunoda replace Liam Lawson after just two rounds of the season.

Both drivers handled the situation impressively, but come the end of Saturday it was clear why it has been such a challenging situation in the second Red Bull seat. Tsunoda showed encouraging pace throughout the weekend but found the car tricky on a crucial Q2 lap and dropped out as the slowest car in that session, one spot behind Lawson who was a bit more comfortable in the Racing Bulls machine.

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SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 06: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Liam Lawson of New — Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will get straight back into action in Bahrain for their second outing after the Red Bull seat swap

That essentially cemented their afternoons as neither could get into the points, but Tsunoda did move forwards a couple of spots while Lawson dropped to 17th.

For both it will have been a huge learning curve given the short preparation time, and a triple header doesn’t give them any time to catch their breath, but it has its upsides. All of that experience gained in Japan can be immediately built on in Bahrain, at a track that is less punishing in terms of mistakes. Plus all of the drivers are more familiar with the venue due to pre-season testing.

With high speed street circuit in Jeddah on the horizon, this weekend will be a big opportunity for Tsunoda and Lawson to get more comfortable with their new machinery.

A familiar track offering a clearer picture

I’m not sure many people had Verstappen winning in Japan on their bingo cards a week ago, and with upgrades expected in Bahrain we could yet see a different pecking order this weekend.

While the top four drivers in the championship standing were mentioned earlier on in terms of the title fight, we are just three races into a 24-race season and, if last year taught us anything, it's that there can be some extreme swings in performance and point-scoring when you have at least four teams close to the front.

SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 06: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on — Leclerc delivered an impressive performance in Japan

Mercedes looked quick in Bahrain in testing and will hope to replicate that this weekend, while Ferrari are also still in the picture. Charles Leclerc delivered a very impressive performance in Qualifying to secure fourth on the grid in Japan and retained that spot in the race, and while he couldn’t stick with the top three he was also closer to the race winner than a year ago at the same venue.

Ferrari were also very competitive in Bahrain last year, so we’ll at the very least be able to compare the evolution of the competitive picture, and see where strengths and weaknesses have changed.

It will also be a really interesting weekend to see if cars that looked strong in testing here – such as the Williams and Alpine – replicate that showing, or if the likes of Racing Bulls and Haas are quicker than in February.

Rookies at less of a disadvantage

The class of 2025 features some extremely talented rookies who have shown their potential already this season despite difficult circumstances, but they will also be looking forward to returning to a track they have experience of.

Melbourne, Shanghai and Suzuka are all circuits that have unique challenges but are rarely driven by drivers prior to reaching F1, although Albert Park has started hosting F2 and F3 in recent years. Bahrain, however, has been a venue for the junior categories for some time in both testing and racing, as well as being the site of F1 pre-season testing.

SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 06: Jack Doohan of Australia and Alpine F1 and Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy — Jack Doohan and Kimi Antonelli will know the Bahrain track well thanks to junior series experience and pre-season testing earlier this year

Those three days of running in February will provide the rookies with a far greater level of familiarity given they’ve driven their current cars on the Bahrain International Circuit, potentially reducing the gap between themselves and the more experienced drivers.

The likes of Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman all arrive in buoyant moods after impressive results in Japan, but Jack Doohan will also be keen to put together a full clean weekend after his huge crash last Friday.

Doohan has displayed competitive pace compared to Pierre Gasly but is yet to deliver it across a full weekend, and Bahrain provides the perfect opportunity to display his ability as Alpine go looking for their first points of the season.

Different line-ups in FP1

One of the rule changes that was introduced for this season included more track time for rookie drivers who have started fewer than two Grands Prix.

That’s already led to a change in Japan where Ryo Hirakawa drove for Alpine, and he will be back again this weekend, but this time for Haas. Hirakawa has been named as the team’s reserve driver after impressing in the Abu Dhabi test last year, and will add a Haas FP1 outing to the Alpine run and a similar appearance for McLaren at the final race of 2024.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 10: Rio Hirakawa of Japan and Haas F1 looks on in the — Hirakawa will be turning out in FP1 for Haas in Bahrain, having done so for Alpine in Japan

But it’s not just Hirakawa who is set to gain more experience in F1 machinery. Ferrari have confirmed Dino Beganovic will make his Friday practice debut this weekend, Fred Vesti will be in the Mercedes, Felipe Drugovich is turning out for Aston Martin, Ayumu Iwasa will drive for Red Bull and Luke Browning will get an outing for Williams.

The Bahrain schedule makes this race a prime candidate to replace a race driver in FP1, because the sunset timing of the race and Qualifying make FP2 a far more representative session. As FP1 and FP3 take place in the middle of the day in far hotter conditions, they are slightly less valuable than at other events, and offer a good opportunity to give a rookie some track time – at a track that doesn’t punish mistakes as harshly as some…