GIOVANNI’S OPINION – 2025 BAHREIN GP

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McLaren met expectations by winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, but Piastri it wasn’t Norris—who made small but decisive mistakes—but rather Russell, who’s emerging as the leading driver at Mercedes. Ferrari and Antonelli were negatively affected by the Safety Car, while Gasly and Bearman outperformed their machinery to score crucial points for their teams.

Giovanni’s Opinion

After the sleep-inducing Japanese GP, Bahrain delivered a more entertaining race, even though once again, there wasn’t that much overtaking.

Tyre strategy clearly played a major role, livening things up a bit. They’re probably considering introducing mandatory two-stop races for circuits where overtaking is particularly difficult, like Suzuka, Imola, and Monaco.

The Safety Car flattened the race a bit. Its deployment—clearly unexpected—worked against both Antonelli and Ferrari.

Ferrari made the wrong tyre choice, in my opinion: they should have gone with the softs again, since those had been working best for them.

Antonelli, on the other hand, had to make an extra stop, so he suffered even more from the Safety Car’s deployment.

McLaren remains the team to beat. They have the best car on the grid. Piastri was spectacular both in qualifying and in the race. Norris, despite penalties and internal struggles, still managed to bring the car home in third place and preserve his lead in the championship.

I believe Mercedes is the second strongest team in the championship at the moment, especially with a ruthless Russell, who secured an excellent second place, splitting the two McLarens.

Gasly delivered an impressive performance both in qualifying and in the race, as Alpine shines whenever the opportunity arises.

Bearman was excellent. We must remember he scored a point starting from last place, and managed to keep a driver like Antonelli behind him for many laps.

Williams took a step backwards, even though they finally found a more competitive Sainz. Unfortunately, his retirement hindered what could have been his first intra-team victory against teammate Albon.

Aston Martin were nowhere to be seen, still struggling heavily.

Haas is clearly on the rise, not only with Bearman but also with Ocon.

Let’s see what happens at the fastest street circuit in Jeddah. Hopefully, the race there will bring even more excitement.

Author: Jacopo Rava