Piastri on pole, Norris only 6th in qualifying for F1’s Bahrain GP
- 13 Apr 2025
Oscar Piastri took pole in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday as his McLaren teammate and standings leader Lando Norris could only manage sixth.
George Russell was a surprisingly strong challenger and took second for Mercedes, .168 of a second off Piastri’s time. Charles Leclerc qualified third for Ferrari, with Russell’s 18-year-old rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli fourth.
“The others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted,” Piastri said, “but I still delivered the laps when it mattered, which was the most important thing in the end so very, very happy.”
Russell said being so close to Piastri was a pleasant surprise but played down his chances of fighting for the win in Sunday’s race.
“I think if anybody said we’d be within half a second of the McLarens, we’d have taken it,” he said. “I think being realistic it’ll be a challenge to fight with with Oscar.”
Piastri is heading into his 50th career race with a chance for his second win of the season after victory in China last month. A win could put him top of the standings.
Norris was .426 off Piastri’s pace in sixth after a slight slip on his final qualifying lap as he tried to respond to Russell’s impressive pace.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was seventh after reporting a “terrible” problem with his brakes and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was ninth for Ferrari. Verstappen is one point off standings leader Norris after winning the Japanese Grand Prix last week.
Esteban Ocon had a heavy crash in his Haas in the second part of qualifying, causing a delay. He signaled to the team he wasn’t hurt.
Despite Mercedes’ strong pace, Russell and Antonelli are facing an investigation later Saturday for driving out of the garage during a restricted period in the qualifying session.
Earlier, Piastri was on a different level when dominating third practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of qualifying.
The Australian, who topped Friday’s second practice, posted a best time of 1min 31.646, with his teammate Lando Norris second, six-tenths of a second slower.
This underlined the overwhelming feeling that pole position for Sunday’s fourth round of the season is theirs to lose.
Agencies