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Category: Formula 1
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Max Verstappen takes Jeddah pole ahead of Oscar Pisastri: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Jeddah, 19 April 2025: Max Verstappen turned around a slow start to his weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit by beating Oscar Piastri to pole position for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as championship leader Lando Norris crashed in Q3 and will start 10th.
In the first runs of Q1, Piastri set the pace as he posted a lap of 1:28.019, seven thousandths of a second ahead of McLaren team-mate Norris. Verstappen slotted into third, 0.129s off top spot and ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda. Norris then went for another attempt, and his 1:27.805 lifted him two tenths of a second above his team-mate.
Piastri improved on his final run, but only by a tenth of a second and he failed to climb back to P1. With Norris staying put in the McLaren garage that left the door open, and Verstappen strode through, posting a final time of 1:27.778 to take top spot ahead of the McLaren pair. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took fourth at the end of the session ahead of Tsunoda, Williams’ Alex Albon and Mercedes’ George Russell.
There was no place in the second session, though, for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who exited in P16, behind Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, who progressed seven hundredths of a second ahead of the Canadian. Also ruled out at the end of Q1 were Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and second Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto.
In Q2, Piastri again set the initial pace at 1:27.690 but almost as soon as the Australian crossed the line, Verstappen bounced him out of P1 with a lap of 1:27.529. Norris, though, found enough to go top once more, five hundredths of a second ahead of the Dutchman. Norris stayed in the pit lane for the final runs but this time, with used tyres on board, Verstappen couldn’t haul his way past the McLaren, and he went through to the top 10 shootout in P2 and with two new sets of Softs to play with.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Albon in P11, followed by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the second Racing Bulls car of Isack Hadjar and Haas’ Ollie Bearman.
At the start of the final top 10 shootout, Piastri took provisional pole with a lap of 1:27.560. No one else was able to get across the line, however, as Norris took too much kerb in Turn 4 and slid into the barriers on exit. The McLaren driver was unhurt, but the red flags came out.
While Norris’ crash had wrecked the flying laps of some drivers, Verstappen wasn’t one of them. The Dutchman had been on an out lap when Norris crashed and when the session resumed the Red Bull driver was quickly out on track on scrubbed tyres and a two-run fuel load, as he attempted to get two runs in. And with his first run he stole provisional pole from Piastri by the narrowest of margins – 0.001s.
In the final runs, Russell laid down the gauntlet with a lap of 1:27.407. Piastri followed and the Australian found 0.256s over his first run to bounce Russell out of top spot.
However, Verstappen now with less fuel on board and with his RB21 “coming alive” as he later put it roared to his second pole of the season and the 42nd of his career.
Behind Piastri and Russell, Leclerc took P4 for Ferrari ahead of Antonelli, while Carlos Sainz took sixth for Williams ahead of the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. Tsunoda qualified in P8, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the unfortunate Norris.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’27.294 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’27.304 0.010 0.011
3 George Russell Mercedes 1’27.407 0.113 0.129
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’27.670 0.376 0.431
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1’27.866 0.572 0.655
6 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1’28.164 0.870 0.997
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1’28.201 0.907 1.039
8 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’28.204 0.910 1.042
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’28.367 1.073 1.229
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes – – –
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’28.109 0.815 0.934
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’28.191 0.897 1.028
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’28.303 1.009 1.156
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1’28.418 1.124 1.288
15 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1’28.648 1.354 1.551
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’28.645 1.351 1.548
17 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1’28.739 1.445 1.655
18 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1’28.782 1.488 1.705
19 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1’29.092 1.798 2.060
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1’29.462 2.168 2.484 -
Lando Norris tops FP2 on Friday: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Jeddah, 18 April 2025: At the start of the session, it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who set the pace on Medium tyres. The Dutchman posted a lap of 1:29.89 on his first flying lap but he was soon usurped McLaren’s Lando Norris who jumped to the top with a 1:29.27s lap on the same compound on Good Friday evening.
Charles Leclerc also beat Verstappen’s time, slotting into second with a 1:29.477s that included a purple final sector. Moments later the yellow flags came out Turns 1-2 to cover Lance Stroll, who spun into the run-off area as he suffered rear locking.
There was also a nervy moment for Williams’ Alex Albon too. The Thai driver had to take evasive action when he came across a slow Lewis Hamilton at Turn 18. The Ferrari driver was set to be investigated after the session. Piastri then posted a lap 1:29.273s but Leclerc then went quicker to take top spot on 1:29.002s.
Racing Bulls’ Lawson was the first to move to Softs and the New Zealander posted a time 0.5s off Leclerc. George Russell then moved up to P1 on Softs, but the Mercedes driver was not happy with the balance of his car and Williams Carlos Sainz jumped to P1 on 1:28.942s. Verstappen was the next to go for a qualifying simulation and the Red Bull Racing driver posted a time of 1:28.547 to open a solid half-second gap to the Spaniard.
Verstappen’s stay wasn’t long, however, as Piastri went a tenth clear at the top with a lap of 1:28.430. Norris was one of the last out for his Soft tyre run and with a purple first sector the championship leader jumped above his team-mate with a lap of 1:28.340.
However, Piastri wasn’t done and after cool down laps and a trip through the pit lane he went for another attempt on the same tyres. However, he abandoned the lap after he clipped the wall and failed to improve on his personal best.
Norris repeated that tactic but unlike his team-mate the Briton was able to find an improvement and he shaved seven hundredths of a second off his best lap to seal P1 0.163s clear of Piastri.
With the focus then turning to high fuel runs, mostly conducted on Medium tyres, Verstappen held onto third place, a little under three tenths of a second off Norris. Leclerc also went out for a later Soft run and the Ferrari driver moved up to fourth place with a time of 1:28.749 that left him two tenths clear of Sainz. Yuki Tsunoda was sixth in the second Red Bull, four tenths off his team-mate Verstappen, while Russell’s uncomfortable Soft tyre run left him seventh ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg and Williams’ Alex Albon.
However, with nine minutes remaining the red flags came out when Tsunoda touched the wall on the inside of the final corner and was pitched into the opposite wall at the exit of the corner. With broken left suspension and significant damage to the right of his RB21, the session was halted.
The session did resume, but with just a minute left on the clock there was just time for the bulk of the field to make it out of the pit lane to perform a practice start from the grid.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:28.267 21 251.808
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:28.430 0.163 22 251.344
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.547 0.280 23 251.012
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.749 0.482 22 250.441
5 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:28.942 0.675 24 249.897
6 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.963 0.696 19 249.838
7 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.973 0.706 21 249.810
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:29.106 0.839 22 249.437
9 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:29.193 0.926 21 249.194
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:29.220 0.953 23 249.119
11 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:29.242 0.975 16 249.057
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:29.306 1.039 17 248.879
13 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:29.371 1.104 23 248.698
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:29.488 1.221 22 248.372
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.662 1.395 18 247.890
16 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:29.754 1.487 19 247.636
17 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:29.912 1.645 21 247.201
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.007 1.740 18 246.940
19 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:30.019 1.752 22 246.907 -
Pierre Gasly quickest in FP1: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Jeddah, 18 April 2025: Pierre Gasly went quickest in the first practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the Alpine driver outpacing McLaren’s Lando Norris by less than a hundredth of a second, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third.
At the top of the hour, Haas’ Esteban Ocon was first out on track in hot and humid conditions, but it was Mercedes’ George Russell who set the early benchmark with a lap .
1:29.674 that left him 0.306s ahead of Norris, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed in third. Williams’ Carlos Sainz then bolted on a set of Soft tyres and jumped to second ahead of Norris.
The championship-leading McLaren driver was back out on track on the red-walled Pirelli tyres, however, and he quickly rocketed back to the top of the timesheet with a time of 1:29.246s , three-tenths ahead of Russell and four-tenths clear of team-mate Piastri.
Gasly, who notched his team’s first points of 2025 last weekend in Bahrain, then arrived with his table-topping lap of 1:29.239 that pushed him seven-thousandths of a second ahead of from Norris.
Leclerc sealed third place on the timesheet with a lap of 1:29.309 that left him 0.070 off Gasly, while fourth place went to Piastri who earlier in the session suffered a malfunctioning drinks system.
After Sainz’s soft tyre run briefly put him into the top two it was team-mate Alex Albon who ended up the highest placed of the two Williams drivers, with the Thai racer taking P5, 0.367 of Gasly’s P1 mark.
George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, ahead of Sainz, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was eighth and half a second adrift of team-mate Leclerc.
Max Verstappen was ninth 0.579 off the pace and tenth place went to his Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who ended the session just three thousandths of a second off the four-time champion.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:29.239 25 249.065
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.246 0.007 25 249.046
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:29.309 0.070 28 248.870
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.341 0.102 25 248.781
5 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:29.606 0.367 23 248.045
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.618 0.379 21 248.012
7 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:29.779 0.540 26 247.567
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:29.815 0.576 27 247.468
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:29.818 0.579 26 247.460
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:29.821 0.582 26 247.452
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:29.907 0.668 19 247.215
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:29.916 0.677 25 247.190
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:29.934 0.695 24 247.141
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.976 0.737 24 247.025
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:30.011 0.772 15 246.929
16 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:30.183 0.944 25 246.458
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.583 1.344 23 245.370
18 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:30.595 1.356 21 245.338
19 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:31.029 1.790 21 244.168
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:31.038 1.799 23 244.144 -
Oscar Piastri takes controlled Bahrain win ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris: F1
Sakhir, 13 April 2025: Oscar Piastri handed McLaren its first Bahrain Grand Prix win with a controlled drive from pole position that saw the Australian finish 15 seconds clear or Mercedes’ George Russell while Lando Norris recovered from a starting grid penalty to battle through to third at the flag.
At the start of the race, polesitter Piastri got away well to take the lead. Alongside him, however, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was slow off the line and he was passed by Mercedes’ George Russell and the second McLaren of Lando Norris. Further back Max Verstappen also had a tricky start and Red Bull driver was passed by Williams’ hard-charging Carlos Sainz. Verstappen slotted into eighth place ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
As Piastri took control of the first stint, Sainz charged up to sixth, but he was soon passed by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen followed the Italian driver at the hairpin to reclaim seventh. Sainz then slipped back and on lap 9 both Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull charged past the Williams driver.
Norris was in trouble, however. The McLaren driver has stopped short on the grid and in trying to move he put his car beyond the grid slot. He was handed a five-second time penalty.
The Soft tyres many had started on quickly began to fade and at the end of lap 10 Norris was the first to shed them. He dived into pits, served his time penalty and made a switch Mediums.
Sixth-placed Pierre Gasly and Verstappen were next in for a change, but the champion’s switch to the Hard compound Pirellis was a slow 4.7 seconds and when he emerged, he found himself three seconds back from Gasly and with backmarkers between them.
At the front, Medium-tyre starters Leclerc and Hamilton took over as the lead pair, ahead of Piastri and Russell. Norris was now fifth ahead of Gasly and Haas’ Esteban Ocon, while Verstappen was down in P8.
Ferrari completed a stacked stop at the end of lap 17 and while Leclerc slotted into the pack in fifth and soon passed Gasly, Hamilton emerged in P11. With fresher tyres on board, he soon made his way past Tsunoda.
On lap 20 Verstappen was ambushed by Antonelli who got past in Turn 4. Struggling with “everything overheating” Max was then passed by Hamilton who was gradually hauling his way forward.
At the front, Piastri was slowly stretching away from Russell and on lap 24 he was five seconds clear of the Mercedes. Norris was third but being pressured by Leclerc who almost made his way past in Turn 1 only to go too deep. The Monegasque driver wasn’t done, however, and on the following lap he powered past the McLaren in Turn 4 to steal third place.
With the second pit stop window now open, Tsunoda climbed to P7 but on lap 31, he tangled with Sainz. The Red Bull driver slid sideways into the Williams man’s car and the Spaniard’s car was damaged. With debris strewn across the track the Safety Car was deployed, and the pit lane was quickly flooded with drivers taking advantage of the caution.
Behind the SC, Piastri led ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Norris and Hamilton. Gasly was now sixth ahead of Ocon and Max, with Alpine’s Jack Doohan next ahead of Sainz and Tsunoda.
The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 35 and Piastri held the lead ahead of Russell and Leclerc. Hamilton and Norris tussled but after swapping position twice the McLaren driver forged ahead. Verstappen, too, was on the move and he dived past Ocon to claim P7.
In a tight closing third of the race, battles throughout the order. Norris pressured Leclerc for a dozen laps and although the Ferrari driver was initially able to resist, eventually his defence faded and on lap 52 the McLaren driver got past. Further back, Verstappen closed up to Gasly and on the final lap of the race the champion was able to power past to take sixth place.
At the front, Piastri was in control and after 57 laps he took his second win of the year ahead of Russell who was set for investigation for a DRS infringement late in the race due to technical problems with his car. Norris finished third ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton finished in fifth place ahead of Verstappen. Gasly ended up sixth ahead Ocon while Tsunoda took his first points for Red Bull Racing with ninth place ahead of the second Haas of Bearman.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:35’39.435
2 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:35’54.934 15.499
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:35’55.708 16.273
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:35’59.114 19.679
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 57 1:36’07.428 27.993
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’13.830 34.395
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 57 1:36’15.437 36.002
8 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 57 1:36’23.679 44.244
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’24.496 45.061
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 57 1:36’27.029 47.594
11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 57 1:36’27.451 48.016
12 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 57 1:36’28.274 48.839
13 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 57 1:36’32.907 53.472
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’35.749 56.314
15 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 57 1:36’37.241 57.806
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 57 1:36’39.775 1’00.340
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’43.870 1’04.435
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 57 1:36’44.924 1’05.489
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 57 1:36’46.307 1’06.872
Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 45 1:17’36.543 Retirement -
Oscar Piastri takes his second pole of 2025 ahead of George Russell: Bahrain GP
Bahrain, 12 April 2025: McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took his second pole position of 2025 with a dominant performance in qualifying for the FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in which he finished almost two tenths tenth of a second ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and three clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as championship-leading team-mate Lando Norris could only manage sixth and Japanese GP winner Max Verstappen was seventh.
At the start of Q1, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso set the early pace with a lap of 1:32.362. Verstappen was on track soon after and looked set to ease past the Spaniard with his first flyer, but he locked up in Turn 15 and immediately abandoned the lap. He headed back to the pits saying, “something wrong with the car”.
At the top of the table Norris took over, with the McLaren driver posting a lap of 1:31.107, two tenths of a second ahead of Piastri who was over three tenths ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
With a little under three minutes remaining, and with no time on the board, Verstappen needed a strong final flyer. His 1:31.303 lifted him from P19 to P3, just 0.196 off Norris’s earlier table topper, behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and ahead of Piastri, while a conservative 1:31.751 took Yuki through to Q2 in 14th place.
However, there was no way through to Q2 for Williams’ Alex Albon who went out in P16 along with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson who had a DRS problem on his final run, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.
Q2 was disrupted after just four minutes when Esteban Ocon lost control of his Haas in Turn 2 and slid backwards into the barriers in Turn 3. After an eight-minute delay to retrieve the Frenchman’s car the session got underway once more. Piastri quickly set the pace at 1:30.454, a tenth ahead of Norris, but further back Verstappen, still struggling with understeer and brake issues, abandoned his lap.
Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was similarly disadvantaged and for the second session in a row the Red Bull drivers were restricted to a single lap to try to get through to the next stage.
Once again, they were up to the task, but the pair had to endure nervous moments at the end of the session as they slid to the edge of the top 10. In the end, as Piastri took P12 ahead of Norris with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly taking third ahead of both Mercedes cars,
Verstappen made it through in ninth place just one hundredth behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton while Tsunoda scraped through in P10 just two hundredths of a second ahead of Alpine’s Jack Doohan.
Eliminated along with Doohan were Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the unfortunate Ocon.
At the start of Q3 Piastri took provisional pole with a lap of 1:30.233, two tenths clear of Mercedes’ George Russell and with Norris third. And the Australian McLaren driver made sure of his second pole of the season with a final run of 1:29.84, with Russell a couple of tenths behind and with Leclerc in third. Kimi Antonelli took fourth for Mercedes but both Mercedes drivers could lose out having been summoned for leaving their garages ahead of a confirmed restart time in Q2.
Pierre Gasly took fifth place for Alpine ahead of a below par Norris while Verstappen hauled his uncooperative RB21 to seventh with a time of 1:30.423, almost six tenths off pole. Carlos Sainz was eighth for Williams ahead of Hamilton, and Tsunoda took 10th place with his final flyer of 1:31.303.
2025 Fia Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 11:29.841 – –
2 George Russell Mercedes 11:30.009 0.168 0.187
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 11:30.175 0.334 0.372
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 11:30.213 0.372 0.414
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 11:30.216 0.375 0.417
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 11:30.267 0.426 0.474
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 11:30.423 0.582 0.648
8 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 11:30.680 0.839 0.934
9 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 11:30.772 0.931 1.036
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 11:31.303 1.462 1.627
11 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 11:31.245 1.404 1.563
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 11:31.271 1.430 1.592
13 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 11:31.783 1.942 2.162
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 11:31.886 2.045 2.276
15 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari – – –
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 11:32.040 2.199 2.448
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 11:32.165 2.324 2.587
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 11:32.186 2.345 2.610
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 11:32.283 2.442 2.718
20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 11:32.373 2.532 2.818 -
Oscar Piastri tops FP2 as Lando Norris completes McLaren 1-2 at Bahrain
Sakhir (Bahrain), 11 April 2025: Oscar Piastri led a McLaren one-two in the second practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Australian finishing 1500ths of a second clear of team-mate Lando Norris.
The pair used the hour-long session to forge a strong advantage over the rest of the field, with Mercedes’ George Russell half a second off the pace in third place and with Japanese Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen in P7 and over eight tenths of a second adrift of top spot.
In the session’s opening quarter, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton set the early pace with a lap of 1:32.157 on Mediums. Soft tyre-shod Kimi Antonelli slotted into second, +0.141 off the man he replaced at Mercedes, while George Russel was third on the same tyre, almost four-tenths off his former team-mate. Max Verstappen then moved ahead of Russell with a lap of 1:32.376 on Soft tyres after the Red Bull driver had earlier complained about his car ride, which was bumping around the track.
There was a bigger problem, though, for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who had an issue with his steering wheel and returned to the garage to fit a new one.
Just after the quarter-hour mark Russell moved in the 1m31s bracket and to the top of the timesheet as he outpaced Hamilton by two-tenths of a second.
Hamilton then bolted on a set of Soft tyres and thanks to a purple middle sector he moved back to P1 with a lap of 1:31.915, still almost two seconds off Verstappen’s 2024 pole time.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the next to get a spell in P1 as he also used Soft tyres to move the benchmark to 1:31.729. The Monegasque’s time at the top was all too brief, however, as Williams’ Alex Albon posted a time of 1:31.696 to slip past and then Verstappen found almost four-tenths more to claim P1 with a lap of 1:31.330.
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had spent much of the opening half of the session running Hard compound Pirelli tyres but as the midpoint approached both moved to Soft tyres and Piastri took top spot on 1:30.505, just 0.0154 ahead of Norris. The Mercedes pair also moved ahead of Verstappen with Russell in third, half a second off Piastri, with Antonelli two-tenths further back.
With a little over 20 minutes left in the session, Leclerc split the Mercedes, 0.013s off Russell, but there was no upward movement for Verstappen who complained that he had no brakes in the final corner as he stalled in P7 behind stablemate Isack Hadjar who was the highest placed of the Red Bull-owned cars with a time of 1:31.238 set on Medium tyres. Verstappen, however, was working his way through a longer run on Softs, as was team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who was down on 17th place.
With long runs now the order of the evening, the times settled and with the McLarens of Piastri in the top two spots ahead of Russell and Leclerc, with Antonelli in fifth place. Hadjar took sixth for Racing Bulls, with Verstappen in seventh and still complaining of brake issues in the final corner. Hamilton took eighth place for Ferrari, just 0.008s ahead of Haas’ Oliver Bearman who put in a strong performance to finish ahead the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.505 26 215.272
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.659 0.154 25 214.906
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.032 0.527 22 214.025
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.045 0.540 24 213.995
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.227 0.722 24 213.568
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:31.238 0.733 21 213.542
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:31.330 0.825 24 213.327
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:31.576 1.071 20 212.754
9 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.584 1.079 24 212.735
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:31.623 1.118 25 212.645
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.696 1.191 26 212.476
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:31.706 1.201 24 212.452
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:31.772 1.267 22 212.300
14 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:31.788 1.283 24 212.263
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.825 1.320 16 212.177
16 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:31.870 1.365 23 212.073
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:31.947 1.442 24 211.895
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:32.024 1.519 21 211.718
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:32.382 1.877 24 210.898
20 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.496 1.991 20 210.638 -
Max Verstappen holds off McLarens to take first win of 2025 in Japan: F1
Suzuka (Japan), 6 April 2025: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen held off the McLaren of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, to take his first win of 2025 at Suzuka and become the first driver to take four consecutive Japanese Grand Prix victories beating Michael Schumacher’s record.
After taking the lead from pole, Verstappen managed a slim gap to the hard-charging McLarens across the first stint. And after shrugging off a pit exit challenge from Norris when they made their sole pit stops on the same lap, the defending champion closed out his first win since Qatar last year in style, managing his tyres and his pace to cross the line with 1.4 seconds in hand over Norris, with Piastri another six tenths back in third.
“It was tough, just pushing very hard – especially on the second stint,” said Verstappen afterwards. “The two McLarens were pushing me very hard, and it was a lot of fun out there. Not easy, of course, to manage the tyres, but I’m incredibly happy. It started off quite tough this weekend, but we didn’t give up. We kept improving the car and today it was in its best form. And of course, starting on pole, that really made it possible to win the race.”
After taking the lead ahead of Norris at the start, Verstappen set about trying to build a gap back to the McLarens, and despite complaining of poor upshifts, by lap five he was 1.4 second clear of Norris, with Piastri almost a second further back.
As the opening stint headed towards the pit window Piastri was the first of the leaders to blink, and at the end of lap 20 the Australian dived into the pit lane for a set of Hard tyres. That prompted Red Bull to pit Verstappen at the end of the following tour and McLaren responded by pitting Norris on the same lap.
McLaren were quicker to fit a set of Hard tyres to Norris’ car and as Verstappen reached the end of the pity lane Norris pulled out into the working lane almost alongside the Dutchman. Verstappen held his line in the fast lane and though Norris protest that he had been forced onto the grass at the side of the pit exit, Race Control ruled that there was nothing to investigate, and Verstappen held the lead on the road.
With the pit stops out of the way, Verstappen was now 1.4s clear of Norris, with Piastri another two seconds further back in third. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held fourth place, five seconds off the lead with Mercedes George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in fifth and sixth places.
With 20 laps remaining Verstappen was given free rein to push but he couldn’t shake the McLarens, who continued to exert maximum pressure. Verstappen, though, was flawless and the champion delivered a perfect closing third of race to take his first win since last year’s race in Qatar and the 64th of his career.
Behind the top three, Leclerc was fourth ahead of Russell, who got to within 1.3 of the Ferrari in the closing stages but couldn’t quite put pressure on the Monegasque driver. Mercedes rookie Antonelli finished sixth while Hamilton took seventh after racing on a Hard-Medium strategy in opposition to the bulk of the field. Isack Hadjar took an impressive eighth place and his first F1 points for the Racing Bulls ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and the final point went to Haas’ Ollie Bearman.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 53 1:22’06.983
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:22’08.406 1.423
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:22’09.112 2.129
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:22’23.080 16.097
5 George Russell Mercedes 53 1:22’24.345 17.362
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 53 1:22’25.654 18.671
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 53 1:22’36.165 29.182
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 53 1:22’44.117 37.134
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 53 1:22’47.350 40.367
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 53 1:23’01.512 54.529
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 53 1:23’04.316 57.333
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 53 1:23’05.384 58.401
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 53 1:23’09.105 1’02.122
14 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 53 1:23’21.112 1’14.129
15 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 53 1:23’28.297 1’21.314
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 53 1:23’28.940 1’21.957
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 53 1:23’29.717 1’22.734
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 53 1:23’30.421 1’23.438
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 53 1:23’30.880 1’23.897
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 52 1:22’19.912 1 lap /12.929 -
Max Verstappen grabs stunning Suzuka pole ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: F1
Suzuka (Japan) 5 April 2025: Max Verstappen took a stunning first pole position of 2025 for the Japanese Grand Prix and claimed the outright lap record of Suzuka as he hauled his tricky RB21 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris by just one hundredth of a second. Oscar Piastri claimed third for McLaren with the top three covered by just 0.040s.
In the final runs of Q3 Norris looked to have done enough to secure pole when he crossed the line in 1:26.995. His main rival looked to be Piastri, who was midway through his lap, but no Verstappen, who had struggled for balance all weekend.
The Dutchman had clearly not read the script, however and after “sending it and hoping it would stick” the Red Bull Racing driver secured his first pole since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix and the 41st of his career.
“We tried the best we could to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn’t easy, even in qualifying,” said the Dutchman afterwards. “But every session we just kept on making little improvements. I think that’s what made the difference. And yeah, the last lap was just flat out. I mean, around here being on the limit – or maybe even a bit over in places – is incredibly rewarding.”
At the start of Q1, it was Piastri who led the way, with the Australian setting the early benchmark at 1:28.143. Verstappen’s opening flyer, two tenths down on P1, left him fourth on the timesheet. Norris then went for an early second attempt and dropped the P1 time into 1m27s bracket with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc mirroring the strategy to climb to second place, a tenth behind the McLaren on 1:27.920.
In the final runs, Piastri reclaimed top spot, posting a lap of 1:27.687 to beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.156s. Norris was third ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen progressed to Q2 in sixth place with a time of 1:27.943, just 0.001s behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Headed for the exit after Q1, in P16 and P17 respectively, were Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and the Sauber pair were followed out by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and in last place Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who had an off in the ‘Esses’ on his final lap.
Verstappen was first out of the pit lane at the start of Q2 and the Dutchman upped his pace from Q1 to stop the clock at 1:27.502. It was good enough to split the McLaren’s with Norris taking top sport on 1:27.146, while Piastri could only manage 1:27.613, to sit a tenth off Verstappen. Russell then jumped to P2. Running halted there, however, as a grass fire at 130R brought out the red flags just as the first runs concluded.
The session resumed after an eight-minute delay and both Norris and Russell elected to sit out the final runs. Verstappen ventured out but with little threat coming from further behind he abandoned the attempt and headed into the pits.
Ruled out at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P11 with the French driver followed out by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Aston Martins’ Fernando Alonso, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda.
In the opening runs of the top-10 shootout it was Piastri who claimed provisional pole, with the McLaren driver setting the target at 1:27.052. Verstappen put in a strong Q3 opener of 1:27.278 to take P2 and keep Leclerc and Russell at bay, while Norris’s opener was four tenths slower than his Q2 best and he slotted into fifth place ahead of the final runs.
Russell was one of the first out for his final flyer and a mistake in the Esses put paid to his thoughts of pole. Norris was next across the line and with a time of 1:16.995 it looked like the championship leader had done enough. Verstappen had other ideas, however, and in a track record time the four-time champion once again proved why he’d been on pole 40 times.
“A lot of happiness when I crossed the line,” he said. “The whole qualifying, we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit. And the final lap, honestly, it was very good. I had a lot of fun out there, being fully committed everywhere. Some places, not sure if I was actually going to keep it or not, but yeah, it was really nice. And yeah, it was great for the team as well.”
2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.983 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.995 0.012
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:27.027 0.044
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.299 0.316
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.318 0.335
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.555 0.572
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.569 0.586
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.610 0.627
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:27.615 0.632
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:27.867 0.884
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:27.822 0.839
12 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:27.836 0.853
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.897 0.914
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.906 0.923
15 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.000 1.017
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.570 1.587
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.622 1.639
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:28.696 1.713
19 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:28.877 1.894
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.271 2.288 -
Piastri tops disrupted FP2 in Japan as Doohan suffers heavy crash: Japanese GP
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the quickest time of a heavily disrupted second free practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix that featured four red flags, including one for a huge crash involving Alpine driver Jack Doohan.
After sitting out FP1 in favour of reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, Doohan was out on track early in the second session to maximise time on a circuit he last raced at in his time in the Asian F3 Championship in 2019. However, after putting just four laps on the board the Australian lost control of his Alpine on the entry to Turn 1. He immediately spun off at high speed and hit the barriers hard, causing severe damage to left side and rear of his car. He quickly pronounced himself unhurt but with the barriers needing major repairs the session was red flagged for over 20 minutes.
When running resumed it did so only briefly. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso beached his car in the gravel at Turn 8 and once again the red flags came out. The session would be halted twice more before the end of the hour as dry areas of grass at the side of the track caught fire, presumably due to sparks from cars bottoming out, and marshals had to attend the incidents with extinguishers.
It meant that running was heavily disrupted, and it was the McLaren duo of Piastri and Lando Norris that topped the session. Th Australian set a best time of 1:28.114 to take P1 half a tenth clear of Norris with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in third place, four tenths off Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Ferrari ahead of the second Racing Bulls car of Liam Lawson and George Russell was sixth for Mercedes. Many drivers failed to get in a quali sim on Soft tyres, however, leaving the timesheet inconclusive.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:28.114 13 237.251
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:28.163 0.049 12 237.119
3 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:28.518 0.404 12 236.168
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.544 0.430 14 236.099
5 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:28.559 0.445 13 236.059
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.567 0.453 13 236.038
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.586 0.472 14 235.987
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.670 0.556 9 235.764
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:28.757 0.643 13 235.532
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:28.832 0.718 9 235.334
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:29.023 0.909 11 234.829
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:29.062 0.948 12 234.726
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:29.335 1.221 13 234.009
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:29.507 1.393 13 233.559
15 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:29.654 1.540 10 233.176
16 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:29.733 1.619 13 232.971
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.978 1.864 5 232.336
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:30.625 2.511 12 230.678
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.845 2.731 12 230.119
20 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:31.659 3.545 4 228.075 -
Bagnaia capitalises on Marc Marquez crash in drama-filled Americas GP
Rain, a delayed start and an end to the #93’s clean sweep in 2025 – Sunday in Austin had a little bit of everything as Alex Marquez becomes the new title chase leader…
Austin (USA), 30 March 2025: Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) is a Grand Prix winner in 2025 after an immensely dramatic Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas unfolded on a Sunday afternoon that saw COTA King, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), crash out of the lead. With another P2 finish, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) becomes the new MotoGP title chase leader, as Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) completed the podium in an absolutely unforgettable Round 3.
RAIN (AND A QUICK-THINKING MM93) CREATES PRE-RACE CHAOS IN AUSTINTalk about amplified drama. Rain before the start saw the riders face incredibly tricky conditions heading to the grid, as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) proved. The Frenchman crashed on his sighting lap but managed to get back round to the grid, as we then saw something we very rarely see.
Just before the three-minute board was signalled, Marc Marquez dashed off the grid. This led to Bagnaia, Di Giannantonio, Alex Marquez and more following suit, with riders and team members sprinting down pit lane to grab the spare bikes that were fitted with slick tyres.
Some though, including Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), opted to gamble on slick tyres from the get-go and remained on the grid – along with some other riders. However, in the chaos, the red flags were thrown. Below, is the reasoning from Race Director Mike Webb: “We called for a delay and then quick start procedure due to safety concerns. Given the number of riders, bikes and pit staff on the grid and in the pit lane area, it was impossible to start the warm-up lap. A new race start was the safest way to respond to the unprecedented circumstances at the start of the Grand Prix. We will analyse the situation together with the teams and revisit the regulations.”
After a brief pause in proceedings, the updated information was a 14:10 pit lane green light and a quick start procedure, with original grid positions to be occupied by every rider. Then, it was time to try again – every rider now on slicks. But again, there was drama. Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) had to be wheeled off the grid before we finally got the Grand Prix underway.
LIGHTS OUT: Marc Marquez grabs early leadMarc Marquez launched well and grabbed the holeshot, with Alex Marquez holding off Bagnaia into Turn 1. Pecco was trying to wriggle his way past the Gresini rider, first at Turn 11, then at Turn 12, but both attempts failed. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez built a 1.1s lead at the end of Lap 1, with the top four – Marquez, Marquez, Bagnaia and Di Giannantonio – nearly two seconds up the road from Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Team), who was enjoying a good battle with Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team).
On Lap 4, Marc Marquez’s lead was up to 1.4s over Alex Marquez, who had Bagnaia and Di Giannantonio clinging onto his tailpipes. Then, at Turn 12, Bagnaia’s latest manoeuvre worked. The #63 was now in P2, so with clear air, could he reel in teammate Marquez?A 2:02.466 from #93 saw Marquez stretch his lead to 1.6s at the start of Lap 5, and then a 2:02.433 meant the gap was now up to the two-second mark. Meanwhile, further down the pack in the fantastic fight for P6, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed at Turn 1.
MORE DRAMA: The #93’s first error of 2025
Then, fancy another massive slice of drama? Because that’s what we got. Turn 4 was the place, and it was race leader Marc Marquez who was on the floor! The front end washed away as he clipped across the curb too far, hit a wet patch, and with that, the undefeated run was over. Marquez was able to remount in P18, but without a right foot peg, plus more damage to his GP25, there was no way back into the points for the #93 with both Viñales and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing) passing the six-time MotoGP Champion.
BOUNCING BACK: Bagnaia holds on for victorySo where did that leave us? Bagnaia led Alex Marquez by 1.6s, with the latter 2.2s clear of Di Giannantonio. And on Lap 13, Marc Marquez called time on his 2025 Sunday outing at the Americas GP. The victory streak was officially over.
On Lap 15 of 19, Bagnaia grew his advantage to three seconds. A lap later, it was a tenth more as Marquez continued to hold Di Giannantonio at arm’s length – 1.3s to be exact. Meanwhile, the fastest rider on track was Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and the rookie, with two laps left, bullied his way past Miller for P5. However, a fantastic ride then ended in the gravel trap at Turn 15, and at a similar time, Zarco’s impressive display ended at Turn 12.
Last lap time. Bagnaia simply had to bring it home, but 2.5s behind, Alex Marquez couldn’t relax as much. Diggia was prowling, a second split the two, so any slight error from the #73 could prove costly. In the end, it stayed as you were. Bagnaia bagged a massive 25 points to become the 10th rider in history to earn 30 MotoGP wins, as new World Championship leader, Alex Marquez, crossed the line in P2 for the sixth straight outing. Di Giannantonio’s efforts weren’t enough for P2, but nevertheless, a phenomenal P3 was pocketed for the Italian in Austin.
POINTS SCORERS: Americas GP edition
Morbidelli came home in P4, with Miller grabbing his best Yamaha result with a very classy P5. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) came from P13 on the grid to finish P6, Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) rose to the occasion on a Sunday once more to fly the KTM flag highest in P7, as Marini, Ogura, and Quartararo completed the top 10.
Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was P11, Raul Fernandez leaves Trackhouse MotoGP Team’s home race with a P12, as Augusto Fernandez (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), Viñales and Savadori rounded out the points finishers in Texas.
Well, MotoGP delivers again. Drama, drama and a bit more drama. Marc Marquez’s 100% record vanishes as a new Marquez sits atop the Championship – Alex. And how big will that victory be for Pecco? The double MotoGP World Champion will now be brimming with confidence heading to Qatar for Round 4. See you all there.
