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Motorsport

Sport

The winners and losers from 2025 F1 testing in Bahrain

Bahrain F1 McLaren Mercedes Williams Racing Carlos Sainz Oliver Bearman Ferrari Alex Albon Lance Stroll

Winner: Williams makes an impressive start

Carlos Sainz, Williams (Photo by: Peter Fox - Getty Images)

Posting headline lap times isn’t always a sign of true performance, and in the early 2000s, you might have even accused Williams of doing it just to keep their newly signed sponsors happy. Carlos Sainz’s fastest time on Thursday and Alex Albon’s heroics on Friday don’t necessarily mean they are now ready to challenge McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull (which, to me, looks like the competitive order at the front). However, there are genuine reasons to believe that the Grove-based team can now aim for fifth place in the constructors' championship - which would be a massive step forward for them. — Oleg Karpov

Loser: Sauber poised to struggle

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber (Photo by: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

According to an old paddock saying, there are no weak teams in F1. They all have highly skilled and incredibly expensive engineers working for them, people who could just as easily be developing spacecraft – but every year, one team has to finish last.

And all signs suggest that this year, it’s going to be Sauber.

As the team continues to prepare for its transformation into Audi next year, it’s only natural that their main focus isn’t on the present when the future holds such importance. What we’ve seen in Bahrain over the past three days only reinforces that impression. — O.K.

Winner: Constructors’ champion McLaren looks strongest

Oscar Piastri, McLaren (Photo by: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

The world champions picked up where they left off in Abu Dhabi – seemingly as the class of the field. This is based on Lando Norris’s astonishing Day 2 race simulation, putting 30s into Ferrari and Mercedes, with Charles Leclerc and Andrea Kimi Antonelli respectively, on similar programmes. Oscar Piastri then seemed to have the long-run edge on George Russell, even as temperatures went up and things got harder for the drivers on the final day.

The team is trying hard to avoid complacency – Norris and Piastri want the team to improve rear grip even around what is a typical problem in Bahrain where, finally, the ‘home’ team has gone well. — Alex Kalinauckas

Loser: The Bahrain International Circuit had a bad couple of days

(Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

Without wishing to offend our hosts, this was a baffling and pretty bad week for the Bahrain circuit.

The power cut on day one had serious safety implications given the floodlights went out in gloomy conditions where famously headlight-less race cars were still blasting around.

There was nothing the circuit did wrong in the shambles of only two teams having wet-weather tyres to run in the rare desert rain on Day 2, but, in addition to the bus ending up in the Turns 9/10 runoff that caused a red flag as the final session started on Day 3, Motorsport.com observed a chair having been blown into another runoff earlier on the final day. This took a long time to be removed, which was concerning in the blustery conditions. An odd week, overall. —A.K.

Winner: Rookie Bearman proves to be a wise head on a young man’s body

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team (Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images)

Flying under the radar, Oliver Bearman made more headlines for spotting what Lewis Hamilton had changed on Ferrari’s steering wheel than he did for his own performances on track. And that’s precisely what the Haas team appeared to want. Bearman spent most of his time performing race simulations, doing so cleanly and without drawing any attention to the Haas car’s pace.

Reviewing the in-car footage revealed lots of early lifting ahead of Turn 1 and no stuffing the VF-25 into corners. His stealthy approach was undone only on the last day when his engine cover partially delaminated while out on track. —Stuart Codling

Loser: Stroll struggles before being laid low with sickness

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

Lance Stroll was the driver of the least visible Aston Martin since the vanishing Vanquish in the risible James Bond movie Die Another Day – even before illness ruled him out of the final track session.

The AMR25 accomplished precious few laps over the period of the test, most accomplished by the evergreen Fernando Alonso rather than the boss’s son. It’ll be a painful debrief. — S.C.

Winner: Another vote for McLaren, but Red Bull could spring a surprise in Melbourne

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB21 (Photo by: Erik Junius)

In terms of race speed, McLaren was the benchmark of the week. Norris' race sim on Thursday and Piastri's on Friday were highly impressive, and give an indication that the team may be able to have a serious shot at the drivers' title this year.

It is a shame that Max Verstappen did not do a complete race simulation, so Red Bull remains a bit of a question mark. And from the midfield pack it seems that Williams has progressed well, although their race pace was nowhere near as fast as their one-lap pace. — Christian Nimmervoll

Loser: Mercedes loses its mojo

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (Photo by: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

From what was the top four teams of 2024, Mercedes' long run on the final day looked the least impressive. It seems the team has lost its mojo a bit after the 2021 Abu Dhabi drama, and it will need to rebuild for 2026.

I don't see them challenging the likes of McLaren, Verstappen and probably Ferrari on a regular basis. Further back, from a German view, the testing performance of Sauber with Nico Hulkenberg has been nothing but disappointing. I assume this will increase pressure inside the Audi camp, and it will certainly not help James Key to silence his critics in Germany. —C.N.