Oscar Piastri became the first driver to win two grands prix this year, but was he the top performer in Bahrain? Here’s our verdict on the full field.
Lando Norris
▼ Ill-timed fumble in Q3 left him four places lower than he should have been
▼ Gained three places at the start but penalised for lining up incorrectly in his start box
▶ Got a run at Leclerc at the restart but couldn’t get by at turn one and lost a place to Hamilton
▶ Correctly returned position to Hamilton after going off while fighting him
▶ Passed Hamilton and, eventually, Leclerc
▶ Had to settle for third after unsuccessful last-lap attack on Russell
4/10: Second place was possible and Norris blew several chances to take it
Oscar Piastri
▲ Consistently looked the quicker of the two McLaren drivers in practice
▲ Claimed pole position with smooth performance through qualifying
▶ Unchallenged throughout the race
8/10: The kind of championship-worthy performance Norris needs to produce
Charles Leclerc
▲ Built up speed throughout qualifying and produced excellent lap in Q3
▶ Starting on mediums meant he lost places to soft-shod Russell and Norris
▲ Sustained good pace into second stint where he passed Norris
▶ Safety Car blunted his strategy
▶ Eventually succumbed to Norris’s attacks and lost third
7/10: Not much more he could do in a Ferrari given the Safety Car timing
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Lewis Hamilton
▼ Despite floor changes, qualifying showed he still hasn’t clicked with car yet
▶ Held his place at the start from drivers behind on softer rubber
▶ Showed better pace once he got past Sainz in first stint, and in free air in second stint
▲ Opportunistic pass on Norris after the Safety Car period temporarily got him ahead
▼ Not as competitive on the hard rubber and dropped back from Leclerc
6/10: Glimpses of his Shanghai sprint race pace in the grand prix, but qualifying remains a concern
Max Verstappen
▶ Risky qualifying strategy only secured progression to Q2 and Q3 with his final runs
▼ Lost a place to Sainz at the start
▶ Had difficulty passing midfielders Sainz, Ocon and Gasly
▶ Slow pit stops dropped him further back
▶ Safety Car timing also played against him
▲ Persevered to take sixth place off Gasly on final lap
7/10: Utterly dogged in the face of persistent misfortune
Yuki Tsunoda
▶ Like Verstappen, only got through to Q2 and Q3 with his final runs
▼ Further off his team mate than any other driver in qualifying
▶ Passed Sainz early on, then was passed by him
▶ Fortunate to avoid a penalty for hitting Sainz
▶ Lost time at first pit stop for same reason as Verstappen, but second visit was fine
▶ Passed Doohan for ninth in final stint
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.075s faster
5/10: Kept his nerve in qualifying but should be grateful the stewards looked the other way when he hit Sainz
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
▲ Untroubled by lost practice time at a track he is familiar with
▶ Continues to reduce his deficit to Russell in qualifying
▼ Had to go off twice on the first lap which cost him two places
▶ Passed Sainz but pace wasn’t as strong as Russell’s on first stint
▶ Mercedes’ gamble to put him on softs with 30 laps to go backfired when the Safety Car came out
▶ Lost more ground when forced off by Sainz
▶ Pushed his luck with track limits
6/10: Had some misfortunes but should have found a way past Bearman for final point
George Russell
▲ Excellent performance in qualifying, lost front row start due to team’s error
▲ Immediately up to second at the start and made bold attempt to take the lead
▶ Clearly didn’t have pace to challenge Piastri
▲ Out-running Norris for second shouldn’t have been possible, especially with brake-by-wire problems
▶ Avoided penalty for accidental DRS misuse
9/10: Team and car let him down at times but he continues to get the best out of the Mercedes
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Lance Stroll
▶ Team claimed set-up error was to blame for deficit to Alonso in qualifying
▶ Passed medium-shod Bortoleto at the start
▶ Let Alonso past when told to in race
▼ Dropped back from team mate before and after the Safety Car, though the gap wasn’t huge
5/10: Ineffective, even allowing for his team’s explanation for qualifying
Fernando Alonso
▶ Used three new sets of softs to reach Q2, then ran older rubber in the second session to save a fresh set for the race
▲ Started on mediums but gained a place from Hadjar at the start
▼ Dropped back quickly in the opening stint as Albon and the Haas pair came by
▶ While others took soft tyres when the Safety Car came out, Alonso did not use the set he saved from qualifying
▶ Reached Q2 but set best time in Q1, 0.252s faster
6/10: Aston Martin clearly had no faith in their performance on softs which compromised his result
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Jack Doohan
▼ Said he got his tyres too hot in Q2 after failing to join Gasly in Q3
▶ Early pit stop got him up to ninth place
▶ Pitted for hards shortly before the Safety Car came out
▼ Couldn’t keep his rear tyre temperatures under control which allowed several rivals to pass
▼ Penalised for committing too many track limits breaches
4/10: Clearly a missed opportunity to score his first points
Pierre Gasly
▲ Clear signs of pace in practice which he delivered on with a superb lap in qualifying
▶ Kept Antonelli and Verstappen behind before early first pit stop
▶ Pitting before the Safety Car was not ideal
▼ Could have put up a stronger fight for sixth place given it was the last lap
8/10: Fully deserved his first points finish of the season
Esteban Ocon
▼ Several drivers had snaps in turn two in qualifying, but Ocon lost control completely and crashed
▲ Gained two places in first two laps
▲ Aggressively early pit stop propelled him as high as sixth
▶ Lost places to Hamilton and Verstappen, which was to be expected
7/10: Rebounded superbly from qualifying error
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Oliver Bearman
▼ Not happy with braking performance for much of the weekend and qualified last
▶ Team admitted they should have given him three runs in Q1
▲ Gained five places with superb start, then passed Alonso
▶ Ran longer at the start than Ocon which meant the Safety Car played into his hands beautifully
▲ Pounced on his chance to pass Doohan and never buckled under pressure from Antonelli
6/10: Much like his team mate, Bearman did well to put a poor Saturday behind him
Isack Hadjar
▼ Admitted he should have pushed harder on his Q2 lap after narrowly missing top 10
▼ Wheelspin at the start led him to lose four places
▶ Very short first stint left him at a strategic disadvantage
▼ Middle stint pace on mediums was poor
4/10: Several errors added up to a disappointing result
Liam Lawson
▼ Missed Q2 after wheelspin at final corner led him to back off, causing his DRS to close
▶ Enjoyed more success on a different strategy to his team mate
▼ Penalised twice for collisions with rivals
4/10: Better pace than Hadjar but created too many problems for himself
Alexander Albon
▶ Stewarding error prevented him from joining Q2
▶ Said the team didn’t send him out early enough to ensure he got a clean final lap in Q1
▲ Made good progress over the opening stint and was running behind his team mate by lap nine
▶ Ran longer than anyone on softs at the start
▶ Couldn’t fight his way into the points after the Safety Car
6/10: Had the pace for points
Carlos Sainz Jnr
▲ Continued to come good in qualifying
▲ Made a great start to run sixth
▼ Antonelli and Verstappen got by, then Hamilton and Tsunoda
▶ Got ahead of Tsunoda again but was hit by the Red Bull, suffering heavy sidepod damage
▶ Penalised 10 seconds for forcing Antonelli off, which he served before retiring with damage
7/10: Took too much out of his tyres early on but was poised to rebound when Tsunoda wrecked his race
Nico Hulkenberg
▼ Incorrectly waved through into Q2 by the stewards after a track limits error
▼ Lost four places at the start after being forced wide at turn two
▶ Short first stint meant he didn’t gain from the Safety Car but still recovered well enough for 15th
▶ Disqualified due to a technical infringement
4/10: A few too many errors, though the disqualification rendered them moot
Gabriel Bortoleto
▶ Third consecutive Q1 elimination but deficit to Hulkenberg was negligible
▶ Started on the medium rubber and was able to make his second pit stop under the Safety Car
▼ Ran last on hard tyres in middle stint and slipped back
▶ Couldn’t get close enough to Stroll to attack at end of race
4/10: Closer to his team mate in qualifying than the race
Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
2025 Bahrain Grand Prix
- Hamilton making “drastic shift” in driving style to master Ferrari’s car
- Leclerc revealed Ferrari strategy details to Gasly before Bahrain Grand Prix
- Lawson made “very significant step forward” in Bahrain – Mekies
- Russell’s transponder was ‘frazzled and charred’ after Bahrain Grand Prix DRS drama
- “Don’t give me too much now”: Hamilton’s search for speed at Ferrari continues
Jere (@jerejj)
14th April 2025, 10:50
Most impressed: PIA, RUS, & GAS
Most disappointing: NOR, VER, & LAW
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
14th April 2025, 13:38
VER disappointing? how? the car never looked like a contender and he finished as high as it would allow.
S Arkazam
14th April 2025, 15:43
Jere probably has a very high expectation of Max, thus even a good performance is disappointing versus that standard.
That’s why performance ratings should never be based on expectations (or even experience IMO) as it introduces a new level of personal judgements (i.e. pre race expectations).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th April 2025, 1:09
My father thought the same, and I also disagree: verstappen does what the car is capable of.
Zim'sF1 Fan
15th April 2025, 13:04
I think Verstappen stuck in there good considering what was happening with his team and then the car. He was not disappointing at all.
As for Norris I think he dug himself from self inflicted mess well so….yeah may e disappointing.
Lewis
14th April 2025, 11:28
Piastri on 8/10 is wild….what more could he do?? It was a perfect weekend. And “unchallenged throughout the race” isn’t really fair when he had Russell on softs behind him for the SC restart
MG1982 (@mg1982)
14th April 2025, 12:58
I guess there has to some challenge involved too, and not drive into distance thanks to car performance. VER in Japan is 9, maybe even 10, so I guess 8 here for an unchallenged victory is about right.
[email protected]
16th April 2025, 1:47
He qualified on pole and 6/10ths ahead of his teammate who could only manage 6th, and then proceeded to squirm around the track for most of the race,
To say it’s all down to having a superior car is an absurdity, because it’s the same car that Lando has.
Literally nothing more for him to take on the weekend. Pole, fastest lap and the race win. He also managed two periods behind the pace car and rebuilt gaps after successfully defending both restarts.
How this is less than a 10/10 performance is beyond me.
MichaelN
14th April 2025, 15:30
There’s a whole bunch he could do more, but the opportunity didn’t present itself. It’s not his fault, as he didn’t need to do anything more. But given the idea of this rating scale is to take a very broad view of F1 history, there does need to be a rating for something more impressive than a controlled drive from pole to the win in the fastest car. That’s great and all, but it’ll be forgotten in a week or two.
asz
14th April 2025, 11:33
A spate of 4s, and yet, “ineffective” Stroll merits a 5.
An Sionnach
14th April 2025, 11:37
Ouch! I would be more neutral towards Lando. Yes, he should have recovered to second, but…
I thought Sainz was to blame for the collisions he moaned about. These weren’t isolated incidents, either. He has often fumed on the radio about other drivers when he has driven into them, or got into argy-bargy with someone and then cried about being intimidated. Like a dog that starts a fight and then goes off yelping.
Great from Oscar. Good job by George, too. It’s interesting that the FIA approved the manual use of DRS. That’s where I would have considered the fault may have lain if the team could be blamed. That said, if the technical failure was on the Mercedes side, he shouldn’t be allowed to manually enable DRS at all. Presumably, he’d be able to use it at will at any time. He didn’t gain an advantage from using it, but no team should be allowed to use DRS where they like unless there’s a technical problem with equipment from external parties.
An Sionnach
14th April 2025, 11:55
Super from Leclerc; spirited in defence.
Sam
14th April 2025, 12:14
Honestly Sainz is probably under a bit of pressure to score, so that’s why he is so aggressive with overtakes. The move on Yuki was also poorly executed; although he braked late, he was way off the apex.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
14th April 2025, 11:38
Kinda harsh on Piastri given his weekend was about as flawless as you could get to give Russell a 9 but Piastri only an 8.
Probably should both be 8 given 9 or 10 is absolutely rare and requires something really special. Russell did well but nothing really special to be second given Lando kept tripping over himself so he was more “flattered” in terms of result than outright special.
Riccard
14th April 2025, 12:32
I think Russell’s weekend was more impressive than Piastri’s… as Piastri did “everything he needed to” to achieve what the McLaren was capable of, while Russell achieved more than Mercedes should have been capable of in both qualifying and the race.
I could easily see a mid 8 for Piastri and a high 8 for Russell.
On the other hand… Verstappen scored 9 last week for overachieving in both quali and race in the slower car. That was without mechanical trouble. Wasn’t Russell’s performance this week fairly similar?
David BR (@david-br)
14th April 2025, 15:51
Always disagree with the idea that any driver can drive a car more than it’s capable of – obviously nonsensical! But I know what you mean, optimized and probably someway out of the comfort zone. I voted Piastri DOTW because it seemed mean not to, but I get that Russell was probably most caught my attention (well him and Gasly). If Mercedes can improve close to McLaren level, I’d say he looks champion-ready. More than Piastri and way more than Norris.
Ferdi
15th April 2025, 7:05
I am nonsensical then. I think a car has a PAR. Drive beyond that what the average professional(s) distracts from it and you ‘drive more than the car’ or as I call it ‘flatter the car’.
S Arkazam
15th April 2025, 11:48
If that is a reference to golf, then PAR is not ‘more than what one can achieve on a hole’, but the standard a very experienced golfer would be expected to make.
Playing below par (Birdie, Eagle, Albatros, Urvogel) is NOT more than a player can achieve as per the above reference to car racing.
I guess any reference to driving a car ‘beyond what its capable of’ should probably be read as ‘better than what another experienced driver would be expected to squeeze out of it’.
yuyu
14th April 2025, 12:01
What are you saying Collantine.
Sainz hit Tsunoda.
If either of them were to be penalized, it would be Sainz.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
15th April 2025, 8:43
Sainz had got ahead and Tsunoda did not have his car fully under control when they made contact.
Sam
16th April 2025, 15:18
I understand the argument for the slide being not under control even though I disagree. But calling that being “ahead” is pure absurd. Sainz is way off the apex braking too late, when the contact happen at the very least they are side by side, if not Tsunoda being just ahead.
Sam
14th April 2025, 12:08
Blaming Yuki for the collision with Carlos doesn’t hold up; it was clearly a racing incident. Carlos made an optimistic, late-braking move. While Yuki also braked late to defend and couldn’t easily yield more space from his line, there was a car’s width outside. Carlos turned into Yuki’s path to set up Turn 2 (which is acceptable), and this, combined with Yuki’s defense, caused the contact. Even considering Yuki’s minor slide, there was sufficient room, and it wasn’t uncontrolled. It was simply hard racing between both drivers.
I also do think Yuki deserve a 6, but that’s only 1 points apart so whatever.
An Sionnach
14th April 2025, 13:10
Agreed on the move and the score.
PacificPR (@streydt)
15th April 2025, 6:48
+1 totally agree – I also don’t understand that Sainz gets a 7?
Bruno Alves
14th April 2025, 12:17
Wow, Sainz with a better rating than Albon, that’s just insane.
TFLB (@tflb)
14th April 2025, 14:05
Let’s see… half a second up in qualifying, and ahead of him for the whole race until the damage caused by Tsunoda. Yep – seems fair to me…
Bruno Alves
15th April 2025, 14:43
Ahead of him the whole race?
By lap nine Albon was right behind Sainz, even though he started several positions behind him.
Sainz spent the first half of race acting like he was still racing for a top team and defending like crazy against faster cars, then he was too agressive against Tsunoda (once again, with Albon who had already pitted with much better pace right behind them both) and got damage, which end up in a safety car that ruined Albon’s strategy and got Sainz a DNF.
And i’m not even talking about when he almost crashed into Antonelli before finally giving up and retiring the car.
He was completely awful the whole race, had much less pace than Albon and his driving choices were terrible.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
14th April 2025, 12:19
Hmm, Leclerc and Sainz got the same rating. Don’t know about that. Norris is probably a bit harsh given he finished third after all.
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
14th April 2025, 14:40
Yes, that was the one that puzzled me most. Sainz was not terrible, but still dropped like a stone in the first stint, was slightly slower than Albon in the race, and punted Antonelli. Meanwhile it is hard to see what Leclerc could have done better.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
14th April 2025, 12:50
I made this same point last race and maybe the one before. How on earth does George get marked so highly. There is a clear bias in these ratings towards him. Piastri gets an 8 with basically a perfect weekend and George gets a 9. Sorry but this is ridiculous. He was good and competent but a 9 implies he accomplished some amazing drive against the odds.
I think Lando is a little harshly treated. There were definitely some obvious and avoidable errors but he made the best of the race really. Gained three places and finished third. Should have been a 5 easily. I also don’t understand Sainz’s 7/10. He was competitive but got a bit carried away. No way should this have been more than a 6.
David (@nvherman)
14th April 2025, 13:50
@phil-f1-21
I totally agree
Managed to finish third despite a 5 second time penalty (which was a slam dunk). Apart from that, totally agree with you here as well.
May not have had the best weekend, but is still leading the championship. Pretty much what everyone lauded Verstappen for doing last season
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th April 2025, 1:13
In this particular case I found russell really impressive and would’ve given him 9 as well, but I agree he’s been overrated in some previous race, I think china, it was a race where he got 9.
[email protected]
16th April 2025, 1:57
Disagree regarding Lando.
If the team gives you a car capable of winning Championships, you have to execute far better than Lando did. Grid infringement, locking up on passing attempts, having to give places back for passing outside track limits.
7 is an ansurd score, particularly in light of the fact that Oscar is being marked down for having the best car to 8, but Lando is somehow worthy of a 7 because he managed to jag third place purely by having the best car.
Like, really, Lando was only one point worse than Oscar? For God’s sake, that’ll do me!
Bobby (@shakenbake)
14th April 2025, 12:52
However you look at it, Lando still got a podium, increases his championshop lead and still only receives a 4/10 whilst Stroll gets a 5. The widespread Lando bashing trend has even made it to Racefans journalism…
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
14th April 2025, 13:00
+ 1. It makes no sense in the context of the marks for some others. I am not some massive McLaren either.
David (@nvherman)
14th April 2025, 13:52
@shakenbake
Racefans “journalism” (I use quotation marks intentionally) has been getting closer to tabloid level for a few years now.
How far behind Piastri would Norris have been had he not received that (deserved) 5 second penalty?
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
14th April 2025, 20:26
The Mclaren this weekend was quite clearly the strongest car. Norris had a very poor qualifying, with no excuse, where as Stroll had more of one. Norris had a race with rather a lot of errors, and could not beat Russell, in a slower car that was slowed down further still with a load of problems. Stroll was just underwhelming and unlucky in qualifying and I think a 5 is a balenced and fair result. For the best car by some margin, Norris’s weekend in my view was below average for what this car should have archived, so I think a 4 is realistic.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th April 2025, 1:15
I think a 5 for norris wouldn’t be extreme in the circumstances.
[email protected]
16th April 2025, 2:00
How did he increase his Championship lead?
Seriously going to argue that the one point he lead from Max has been stretched to 3 points to his teammate?
Only on paper, Max isn’t the guy Lando is competing with, it’s Oscar.
Robert Williams (@weiliwen)
14th April 2025, 14:05
As usual, no love for Pierre Gasly’s – and the Alpine team’s – excellent performance over the weekend. An unlucky pit stop timing hurt Doohan but he was running in the points up until then.
Ankita
14th April 2025, 15:02
GAS, PIA, and RUS should have at leat the same score.
Leo B
14th April 2025, 16:15
It should be a given that no one can exceed the score meted out to the winner.
If they seemed more heroic, speedy, gutsy, etc, we must remember that the winner did not need to be so, and may well have been if circumstances had called for it.
So they may equal the winner’s score, perhaps, but they can’t better it. (Common sense !!)
asz
14th April 2025, 16:52
There can easily be circumstances where this just would not work; simply because a winner does not necessarily look like the Piastri of yesterday, or the Verstappen of a week ago.
It could be someone like the Norris of yesterday after Piastri gets a puncture caused by debris on the last lap, and Russell is disqualified for wearing a plank down 0.1 mm more than allowed.
Norris’ drive would still be a 4 or 5 or, very very generously a 6. No one then, by the logic of your method, would deserve better than that?
Leo B
15th April 2025, 7:34
It is very rare for a winner to be so unworthy of the feat: I would put it at a 10% chance or lower. When that happens, maybe a score of 5 suffices (for someone who finds himself a winner entirely through lucky circumstances like SCs, breakdowns of others etc). This recalls maybe Alonso’s wins in 2005 when Kimi’s car kept breaking down before he got it home for a sure as hell win.
But for the vast majority, a driver wins because he put it on pole, led in the race, avoided mistakes and spins, and was faster than the following pack. His score as DOTD or W can be equalled by defeated drivers who had super races, but not bettered.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th April 2025, 1:16
Agree with asz, winning means nothing if it’s achieved in ways not deserving of it.
In this case piastri did a good job and deserved the win, but russell overachieved considering his circumstances.
[email protected]
16th April 2025, 2:02
Because winning is somehow not as worthy as coming second?
Like, what would Oscar have had to do to get a 10?
I’ve seen F1 fans make some really silly arguments, but this one might take the biscuit.
AlexS
14th April 2025, 22:20
There is no way that Leclerc and Sainz were in same ballpark this race.
Even the authors final conclusion for both drivers goes against the against the points he has given them.
Toxic
15th April 2025, 13:04
Tons of bs as usual. Joke of a ranking.