Winners and losers from F1's 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix

A late(ish)-race safety car added some spice to the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix - and was make or break for a number of Formula 1's drivers and teams in the field.

But even before that, some looked destined to shine - just as the writing was already on the wall for others.

Here's our pick of winners and losers from Sakhir:

Winner - Oscar Piastri

Peerless. And probably now the championship favourite. What more is there to say about a race this well controlled, in the best car in the field, on a poor weekend for his team-mate? - Matt Beer

Loser - Lando Norris

There was a point where Lando Norris looked like he might be ceding the points lead to his team-mate in a race where he should comfortably have been second.

Norris might well end up with that after all, but via just about the messiest route possible.

There was so much to like about his opening lap - one that went against the narrative of what Norris is like at the start of grands prix. What a shame it had already been done by a miscue in his grid box.

And there's the mitigating circumstance of the difficulty he's had getting along with the MCL39, something he's been brutally open about.

But those difficulties obviously weren't the reason why this was such a scrappy race. And contrast that with the ease with which Piastri won, and these look like some worrying early-season times for F1's championship leader. - Jack Cozens

Winner - George Russell

What a superb start to the 2025 F1 season George Russell is having, regardless of whether he gets a penalty tonight.

This was a dogged drive in a car whose electrics sounded like they were falling apart, giving Russell plenty to deal with but amid which he remained composed and quick.

Having a rookie (albeit a highly-rated one) as a team-mate might mean we’re underestimating how brilliant he’s being right now because there isn’t a clear enough benchmark in the second Mercedes. It’s tempting to suggest he’s the season’s unsung hero so far. - MB

Loser - Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli finishing nine places behind his Mercedes team-mate does a complete disservice to how strong a grand prix Antonelli was having for the majority of the race.

There was an exciting mix of clinical (on Max Verstappen) and daring (on Carlos Sainz) overtakes that offered the best showcase of Antonelli's wheel-to-wheel confidence so far.

Unfortunately, Antonelli being pitted onto the softs just a few laps before the safety car ruined a lot of that good work - as Mercedes had to pit him again onto an unconventional three-stopper.

That cost him track position and he fell just short of overhauling his former Formula 2 team-mate Ollie Bearman for 10th, meaning he went point-less for the first time in F1 through no fault of his own. - Josh Suttill

Winner - Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda achieved what neither he nor his two predecessors have managed alongside Max Verstappen for six races just by scoring points in the Bahrain GP.

OK, it was for ninth place and yes, he ended up the meat in a Haas sandwich, so there's no gloss to that finish.

But Red Bull doesn't need that gloss right now - it just needs its second car to be somewhere near its first.

Tsunoda undoubtedly ticked that box - when late-race circumstances could easily have conspired against him - on what it has to be said was Red Bull's least-competitive showing of 2025 so far. - JC

Loser - Red Bull

Max Verstappen performed further impressive damage limitation so sixth place isn't horrendous but the way he got there was painful.

He survived two slow pitstops for two different reasons - the first being a traffic light failure, the second a sticky front right tyre - and had to battle his way through midfield cars, all just to bookend the top six.

Red Bull had F1's fourth-fastest car this weekend and proved Suzuka was simply an exquisitely executed 'stolen' victory from McLaren rather than the sign of a proper turnaround.

This track seemed to expose the worst elements of the RB21 so it's not going to be this bad every weekend, but it was a stark reminder of how much work it will have to do to help Verstappen retain his title. - JS

Winner - Pierre Gasly

The pride in Pierre Gasly's voice was clear on Saturday night after qualifying fifth - one year on from being dead last - so it was no surprise that was still ringing through on Sunday, even if it was tinged by some "mixed feelings" about being passed by Verstappen on the final lap.

Sunday was always going to be more of a struggle but Gasly was genuinely on the coattails of the faster cars throughout, Alpine executed his race excellently, and in the end there probably can't be too many complaints about losing sixth on the final lap - that was only ever likely to be prised from his grasp by a banzai move, and Verstappen was probably the only driver capable of that.

Proof not just of Gasly's ability to convert such opportunities (not for the first time) but of what a potent package the A525 can be in the right circumstances. - JC

Loser - Jack Doohan

Jack Doohan's rookie season is quickly becoming a great big what if? Another weekend of plenty of pace - prior to being knocked out in Q2, Doohan was right with team-mate Gasly through practice and Q1 - that resulted in another no-score.

The early part of his race was strong before Alpine rolled the dice when the safety car was deployed, leaving Doohan out and bumping him up to ninth.

But he was swallowed up soon after the restart despite another solid rearguard action, falling down to 13th place - with a post-race penalty for track limits further demoting him to 15th.

Pace isn't the problem right now, but delivering on it continues to thwart Doohan and that's only going to increase the pressure on him. - JS

Winner - Haas

What a turnaround. One car mangled in the wall, the other one last at the end of qualifying.

A day later and it’s a double points finish that brings Haas back up to fifth in the constructors’ championship.

Haas had the full set of necessary attributes on race day at Sakhir: good pace, good tactics, good driving. Esteban Ocon’s leap from 12th to sixth (ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull!) in the first pit sequence was all about fresh tyre pace and a powerful undercut, but he had the speed to legitimately stay in that company.

His final stint was a dogged rearguard action to hold eighth with a queue of cars (including flying team-mate Ollie Bearman) behind him.

An outstanding contrast to the misery of Melbourne less than a month ago. - MB

Loser - Williams

Still a decent sixth in the constructors’ championship despite its first failure to score of the year, Williams was more unlucky than careless in Bahrain.

Alex Albon being denied a Q2 spot by a very late lap deletion for Nico Hulkenberg was bizarre. Carlos Sainz’s first on-the-pace race in a Williams and very combative Sunday performance deserved more than having to retire because Tsunoda’s Red Bull had nibbled holes in his car - though his penalty-earning move on Antonelli wasn’t his finest moment. - MB

Loser - Liam Lawson

Until qualifying, Tsunoda’s extremely hapless-looking weekend seemed to be a further vindication of Liam Lawson’s Red Bull struggles.

Then Tsunoda got everything together and was within a respectable distance of Verstappen for the rest of the weekend - proving it can be done as early as your second race weekend in a Red Bull.

Meanwhile Lawson went out in Q1 (albeit compromised by DRS issues), was off Isack Hadjar’s pace throughout and notched up two penalties for collisions in quick succession in a race where he was classified 17th.

The return to Racing Bulls was supposed to get his career back on track. He can’t afford many weekends like this. - MB

Loser - Aston Martin

Aston Martin was a last-minute addition to the Losers column, because it was only at the very last minute we remembered there had been some Aston Martins in this race.

At the venue where the team announced its massive stride forward in 2023, for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll to trundle to distant 16th and 18th place finishes was a sad sight. - MB