It’s time for Round 4 of the 2025 Formula 1 season, with the paddock heading straight to Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix in the second of a triple header sequence. Need to Know is your all-in-one guide with statistics, driving pointers, strategy tips and plenty more.
Free Practice 1 and 2 will take place on Friday, April 11, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying on Saturday, April 12 and the Grand Prix itself on Sunday, April 13.
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Vital Statistics
- First Grand Prix – 2004
- Track Length – 5.412km
- Lap record – 1m 31.447s, Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren MP4-20, 2005
- Most pole positions – Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen (3)
- Most wins – Lewis Hamilton (5)
- Trivia – Turn 1, ‘Michael Schumacher’, is the only corner on the circuit with a name
- Pole run to Turn 1 braking point – 353 metres
- Overtakes completed in 2024 – 66
- Safety Car probability – 63%*
- Virtual Safety Car probability – 50%*
- Pit stop time loss – 22.9 seconds (including 2.5s stationary)
*From the last eight events in Bahrain
The driver’s verdict
Jolyon Palmer, former Renault F1 driver: The most challenging part of the Bahrain track is probably braking into Turn 10 because you’re approaching it with a fair amount of speed from the Turn 8 hairpin and through the Turn 9 kink, and you unload the front-left tyre as you’re turning left. It’s easy to lock up, we’ve seen that so many times.
Turn 11 is also crucial because it’s fast; it can be quite wind-affected there as well, the gust can pick up, and you’re going through a long radius, so getting the balance right I think is particularly tricky.
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If you’re pushing with understeer you can’t get on the throttle; if you’re fighting oversteer, it’s difficult because you’re attacking with a lot of speed and then you’re overheating the rear tyres through the high-speed afterwards as well.
Overtaking opportunities are clear here: into Turn 1 and Turn 4, where the two DRS zones end. But there is another challenge in the transition from day to night. The track comes alive at night, the car works so much better – and one Qualifying lap under the lights feels amazing.
Last five Bahrain GP polesitters
- 2024 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2023 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2022 – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- 2021 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2020 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
READ MORE: How to stream the Formula 1 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix on F1 TV Premium
Last five Bahrain GP winners
- 2024 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2023 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2022 – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- 2021 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 2020 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Tyre and strategy insight
For the weekend ahead in Bahrain, Pirelli will bring the same selection of tyre compounds as they did last time out in Japan – that being the three hardest in the range, the C1 as the hard, the C2 for the medium and the C3 as the soft.
However, the difference in temperatures in Sakhir – in comparison to the cool conditions that the drivers and teams were faced with at Suzuka – mean that a different approach will be required for this event.
READ MORE: What tyres will the teams and drivers have for the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix?
Pirelli’s weekend preview reads: “All the teams will have a good baseline from which to start work, given that in the last week of February, the Sakhir circuit hosted the only pre-season test as per the 2025 sporting regulations. It means that everyone will have plenty of data to work with when it comes to setting up the cars and choosing the best strategies for Qualifying and the race.
“However, this weekend’s temperatures will present a new challenge, because during the test week, Sakhir saw unusual weather with strong winds leading to much cooler air and track temperatures than is normal at that time of year.”
Looking at possible strategy options, Pirelli add: “If there’s one Grand Prix where a two-stop strategy would seem to be a given, then it’s Bahrain and that was the case last year, when it was the opening round of the season.
“Soft and hard were the preferred compounds, with the vast majority opting to start on the C3 before making the most of the two sets of C1 they had saved specifically for the race. The exceptions were the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Perez, who did the final stint on a set of C3s, down to the Milton Keynes team’s technical superiority at the time, underlined by the fact they finished first and second.
READ MORE: What is the weather forecast for the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix?
“Based on what we have seen in winter testing and over the opening three rounds, it could be a different scenario because of modifications made to the compounds for 2025. While the C1 is pretty similar to its predecessor, the C2 and C3 are softer and most significantly, the three compounds have a better spread in terms of their performance delta.
“This could therefore bring the C2 back into play as a race tyre, thus creating more strategy choices for Sunday, with even a one-stop becoming a realistic possibility. Much will depend on how hot it will be compared to the test, so the three hours of free practice will be very important, especially FP2, which takes place at a similar time of day to the early part of the race.”
Current form
After McLaren led the way during the first two rounds of the season, things took an interesting turn last time out in Japan when Max Verstappen converted his surprise pole position into a sublime victory, the Dutchman becoming the third different winner of the campaign in the process.
As well as acting as a reminder not to rule the reigning World Champion out – despite Red Bull seemingly not having a car to match some of their rivals – this result has had a big impact on the picture in the Drivers’ Championship, with Verstappen now just one point away from leader Lando Norris.
READ MORE: Ayumu Iwasa set to drive Verstappen’s Red Bull in FP1 at Bahrain Grand Prix
While a 2-3 result was certainly not a disappointment for McLaren at Suzuka, the papaya team will be keen to get back on the top step this weekend – yet the Bahrain International Circuit is one that the squad have never won at before.
Elsewhere, Mercedes remain the closest challengers in the Teams’ standings, though Verstappen’s success in Japan has brought Red Bull closer in third place. The Milton Keynes-based outfit will be hoping that new recruit Yuki Tsunoda can help them to their first double points finish of the season so far in Sakhir.
Ferrari, meanwhile, have ground to make up in fourth, while there is little to choose between the midfield teams in a close battle that has seen all but Alpine score during the opening three rounds. Can the Enstone-based squad get off the mark this weekend?
Iconic moment
The Bahrain Grand Prix has witnessed plenty of iconic moments during its 20+ years on the calendar, but perhaps one of the most memorable was the epic battle between then Mercedes team mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2014 that has gone down in history as the ‘Duel in the Desert’.
Just three Grands Prix into the new turbo-hybrid era, Hamilton and Rosberg’s wheel-to-wheel exchange on opposing strategies thrilled fans at the track and on sofas around the world, while also setting the scene for a fierce rivalry in the races and years to come.
READ MORE: 6 Winners and 6 Losers from Japan – Who tasted success at Suzuka?
Relive the dynamic duel by hitting go in the video player below.
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