Piastri Takes Pole On A Hot Night In Sakhir

Oscar Piastri took the second pole position of his career on a scorching hot night in Sakhir. The Australian was the only driver to get under the 1’30” barrier with a time of 1’29”841, but that was still over half a second off last year’s pole time, 0”662 to be precise, which shows how much this weekend’s higher temperatures compared to 2024, are affecting performance.

George Russell in the Mercedes (1’30”009) would have started alongside Piastri, equalling his best qualifying of the season, however, the Brit was handed a one place grid penalty and will now start from third. Charles Leclerc qualified third for Ferrari in 1’30”175 and will now start from the front row, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had qualified fourth in 1’30”213, will start from fifth after also receiving a one place grid penalty, which moves Pierre Gasly in the Alpine up to fourth.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Piastri by DJ and record producer, R3HAB. His highest ranking in the Top100DJs list is a twelfth place thanks to his collaborations with world famous artists such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Calvin Harris, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. On Friday night, he entertained the crowd at the Bahrain International Circuit with his DJ set.

During Free Practice 3, a further five drivers used a set of Hards, leaving Verstappen as the only driver not to have tried the C1 this weekend. In qualifying, all drivers used the C3, which in these conditions and on this track surface produced their maximum performance on the first flying laps, without any possibility of recovering.

In terms of the usage of dry weather compounds, the pattern this weekend has been slightly unusual compared to the norm, with many difference, even if not yet officially confirmed: eleven drivers have two sets of Mediums and one set of Hards available, eight have one each of the Medium and Hard and Verstappen is the only driver to have two sets of Hard and one of Medium.

Oscar Piastri – Pole

“Pole! I’ve felt good out there pretty much all weekend. We’ve had good pace, and the car feels great, which is the most important thing.

“It’s a long race tomorrow, and lots can happen, but we’re starting in a strong position so I’m looking forward to it. There’s work to do tonight but I can’t thank the team enough for the car they’ve given me this weekend.”

Charles Leclerc – P2

“I didn’t expect this result in qualifying, but I think we have worked very well in the last few weeks and this is the reward. We explored quite a few set-ups and I think I’ve found a direction that enables me to better extract the potential from the car. In Q3 the lap on scrubbed tyres wasn’t great, but the feeling in the car was good and I knew I had the potential to do a much better lap although I didn’t expect it to be good enough for P3. It’s good to see that we are making progress and I want to thank the team for the great job done on track and in Maranello to bring the upgrade to this race. Everything worked as expected and now we have to focus on the race. It won’t be easy to keep this position but we will try and get a good result, as it would be a boost for the whole team.”

George Russell – P3

“It was a really strong Q3. I wasn’t really feeling the strongest through Qualifying. I didn’t have the confidence and Q1 and Q2 were a real challenge. In Q3 I got back into my normal rhythm, put in some strong laps and I was really surprised to be so close to pole, ahead of one of the McLarens with Charles [Leclerc] up there too. Whilst we will ultimately start P3, it is still a good place to be for tomorrow.

“This weekend is completely different to last weekend [in Japan]. I was really disappointed with P5 there. I felt we had the potential to qualify much higher up the order but this weekend I wasn’t expecting to be fighting for the front row – I thought P3 was going to be the maximum we could achieve today and we may have been down in P7 as the gaps have been so small. I don’t expect it to be a straightforward race tomorrow. I think Oscar [Piastri] is going to be very fast. The McLarens seem to be a long way ahead of the field when it comes to managing their tyres and we know that this will be key for tomorrow’s race. Let’s see what Sunday brings.”

Mario Isola – Pirelli Sporting Director

“We saw a far more uncertain and closely contested session than had been expected, proving just how unpredictable Formula 1 can be at times. From a race strategy perspective, the picture is actually more complex than it might seem at first glance.

“The first points is that all three tyre compounds can come into play and although a one-stop is clearly slower on paper, it cannot be ruled out completely, especially as eight drivers have one new set of each of the Hard and Medium. This group might consider starting on the Mediums and extending the first stint as much as possible, before switching to the Hards. If there is excessive degradation in the closing stages of the race then, switching to Softs, even new ones for those who did not take part in all three qualifying sessions, could offer a performance advantage, with no need for further stops.

“For a two-stop strategy, on paper the fastest route involves using two sets of Mediums and one of Hards, with pit stop windows between laps 14 and 20 and then again between laps 34 and 40. Those who want to make the most of having extra grip from the Soft for the start will need to pit earlier, between laps 10 and 16 to make the most of the potential undercut advantage, which is very effective at this track. Finally, there’s the option to use all three compounds, for example for those who only have one new set each of the Hard and Medium available.”

FORMULA 2

Excitement all the way to the flag in the Formula 2 Sprint Race. The win went to Spain’s Josep Maria Marti (Campos Racing) who produced an amazing driver to come through from 11th on the grid. The top three finishing order was only decided on the last lap with a wheel to wheel battles between Martí, Dutchman Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport), Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen (AIX Racing), and Swede Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR), who crossed the finish line in that order.

In terms of tyre strategy, most drivers decided to start on the Option compound and it proved to be the right choice, because with good tyre management in the early stages, drivers still had good performance available in the closing laps. A late safety car saw several drives change tyres, both those who had started on the Prime and drivers further down the order, leading to a rush of battles for position.

FORMULA 3

The Formula 3 Sprint was also spectacular, with the Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing) taking the win ahead of two rookies, the English driver Freddie Slater (AIX Racing) second, and Finland’s Tukka Taponen (ART Grand Prix) third. The race was affected by a few safety cars, but it was closely contested and the outcome was only decided in the final metres, when Tsolov managed to defend the lead he had taken off Slater at the final restart.

In terms of the tyres, the race was run in extreme conditions, with track temperatures exceeding 50 °C. It was a very close race with the 23 drivers all crossing the finish line covered by just 17”. Those who did the best job of managing tyre overheating were able to exploit the remaining grip at the end and make up places.