Formula 1’s top teams, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari are gearing up for the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir this weekend.
Last time out, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen got the better of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at Suzuka, but Team Principal Christian Horner is expecting a tougher contest this time around.
“McLaren in Bahrain will be very strong,” Horner told select media, including Motorsport Week, following the Japanese Grand Prix.
“It’s a track that should theoretically play to their strengths. They have the quickest car at the moment. I think that we’re going to need to fight a bit to beat them.”
Losing out to Verstappen in qualifying at Suzuka proved costly for McLaren, but Andrea Stella spoke positively of the double podium as he looks ahead to Bahrain.
McLaren was the dominant force in pre-season testing at the Sakhir circuit, but Stella anticipates different conditions two months on.
“After a positive result in Suzuka, we now return to Bahrain ready for the first evening race of the year,” the McLaren team boss said.
“The MCL39 has proven to be competitive over the first three races but we remain realistic about the work we have to do to maintain our competitiveness.
“Pre-Season testing here in February was relatively positive, but we expect to find slightly different conditions on our return now in April.”
Ferrari seeking progress in F1 Bahrain GP
An outside spectator to the top three battle in Japan was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, forced to observe from 12 seconds back from third-place man Piastri.
It’s been a less-than-ideal start for Ferrari, with just 35 points accrued across three rounds, and Team Principal Frederic Vasseur wants to use Bahrain to measure the Scuderia’s progress from pre-season testing.
“With the fourth race of the season taking place in Bahrain, we get the opportunity to see how much progress we have made with the SF-25 in terms of extracting its potential since we were last here for the pre-season test at the very end of February,” he said.
“We are not where we want to be in terms of car performance, and we are working hard with the aim of making solid progress.
“This will be our main focus in Sakhir, with the support of those working back at the factory in Maranello.
“Even the smallest detail can be important over the weekend, because gaining just one tenth can mean being ahead of some of our rivals, both in Saturday’s qualifying and in Sunday’s race.”
After taking podium finishes in the first two GPs of the season, George Russell was resigned to fifth with Mercedes in Japan, after an error in qualifying ruled him out of landing further up the grid following strong pace throughout practice.
Mercedes is on a surer footing in 2025 than previous years, understanding the package it has in the W16.
A particular weakness for Mercedes in years gone by has been hotter temperatures, and Team Principal Toto Wolff is keen to move on from a “what could have been” Japanese GP to test whether the W16 can fare well in the Bahrain sun.
“Japan was a case of what could have been,” the Austrian said.
“We showed good pace throughout practice but failed to translate that into our qualifying performance. That hurt our chances of claiming a strong result on Sunday.
“Suzuka is a difficult circuit to overtake at and, with the race being a comfortable one-stop, there were limited opportunities to move forward.
“There are positives we can take from the weekend though. The car once again showed potential and, if we had executed more cleanly, a podium was a possibility.
“Bahrain will be another test of the progress we have made with this year’s car.
“It is a rear limited circuit, an abrasive surface, and typically we see hot track temperatures. That makes it tough on the tyres and is the type of track we struggled at last year.”
F1 has seen three different GP victors in 2025 in the form of Norris, Piastri and Verstappen.
Will the F1 Bahrain GP see a fourth take to the top step of the podium?
READ MORE – Why a Red Bull Suzuka strength could threaten McLaren in Bahrain
