Can Ferrari fix their issue? Five key questions ahead of F1 Bahrain GP

F1 2025 continues at relentless pace with this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix marking the second part of the season’s first triple header.

After a fascinating opening three rounds, the world championship moves away from Asia for the first of back-to-back races in the Middle East, with the title race beginning to hot up after a surprise victor in Japan.

Here are some of the biggest talking points as the F1 circus moves on to Sakhir…

Is Max Verstappen now the title favourite?

Despite McLaren having the fastest car this season, Max Verstappen finds himself just a single point adrift of early world championship leader Lando Norris following his remarkable Japanese Grand Prix win.

There is a general consensus in the paddock that McLaren have an inherent pace advantage over the rest of the field, yet Verstappen’s incredible performances in what is considered to be the fourth-quickest car are keeping him right in the mix.

In the opening three races Verstappen has maximised his results at every opportunity, finishing second, fourth and now first.

Red Bull anticipates that a fresh flexi-wing clampdown from the ninth round of the season could give them an advantage over McLaren, further boosting Verstappen’s hopes of sealing a fifth successive world title.

Given Red Bull’s current competitive state, imagine what Verstappen can do if they improve it? The Dutchman’s displays are underlining why he a four-time world champion and considered the very best on the current grid. Japan was arguably one of the best weekends of his F1 career to date.

Verstappen may not be the outright favourite just yet, but he is certainly in the hunt. 

Will Ferrari address their problems?

In a bid to reset what has been a torrid start to the season, Ferrari are rumoured to be bringing their first upgrade of 2025 to Bahrain.

Italian media report Ferrari will debut a new floor this weekend to try and address the major flaw currently holding Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc back.

It was a disappointing race for Ferrari in Japan, with Leclerc finishing fourth and Hamilton only managing seventh. The Italian outfit are yet to score a podium this year and have been well off the pace of their rivals, except for Hamilton’s victory at the sprint event in China.

Ferrari are currently unable to run their car as low as they want, which is costing the team valuable performance. Hamilton’s disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix for excessive plank wear did little to dispel rumours the team are battling an inherent ride height problem.

After the race at Suzuka, Hamilton revealed his car is “underperforming” compared to teammate Leclerc and hinted at a fix to come, possibly as soon as this weekend’s fourth round of the season.

Hamilton’s comments appear to be backed up by the reports coming out of Italy. Could an upgrade be the key to getting Ferrari’s lacklustre campaign back on track?

Can McLaren bounce back at ‘bogey’ track?

McLaren remain strong favourites despite falling to their first grand prix defeat of 2025 at Suzuka, though they now head to a track they have traditionally struggled at in the past.

Many viewed the Japanese Grand Prix as a massive missed opportunity for McLaren, who boast the quickest package in the 2025 field. A win - and crucial points - that was seemingly there for the taking went begging and fell into the lap of McLaren and Norris’s main nemesis, Verstappen.

McLaren arrive at a circuit they have not had much success at knowing that another slip up will cost Norris the lead of the world championship.

Norris has suggested that Red Bull could actually be the favourites in Bahrain, citing the RB21’s strength in slow-speed corners. According to Norris, this is McLaren’s biggest “weakness”. The team did have a strong showing at the track in pre-season testing.

There is no reason for McLaren to panic just yet, but with no breathing space to play with over a dogged Verstappen, the team will be feeling the pressure to return to winning ways.

Is Yuki Tsunoda an upgrade on Liam Lawson?

By his own standards, Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull debut was not a success. He went into the weekend hoping for points and came away with a 12th place finish - matching his predecessor Liam Lawson’s best result for the team.

Following his sudden promotion just two races into the season, Tsunoda was always going to be afforded some time to find his feet at the main Red Bull team.

But time is a precious commodity. Red Bull’s second car is yet to score any points this season and the team need Tsunoda to be regularly bagging strong hauls for the constructors’ championship.

There was reason for Red Bull to be encouraged, however. Tsunoda made a promising start to the weekend before things nosedived with a Q2 exit that set-up a challenging race which was dictated largely by qualifying.

While disappointed with his result, Tsunoda did at least feel he made progress with adapting to Red Bull’s tricky RB21. Red Bull also recognised Tsunoda did a solid job in the circumstances and have sufficient reason to believe the Japanese driver’s stint will be more successful than Lawson’s.

Is Jack Doohan on borrowed time?

It has been a bruising start to life in F1 for Jack Doohan, who had another difficult weekend in Japan.

Having missed first practice as Ryo Hirakawa took his spot, Doohan suffered a huge 185mph crash early in FP2. It later emerged that the crash - Doohan’s second big accident in three races - was down to driver error.

The Australian went on to be convincingly outperformed by teammate Pierre Gasly, finishing a lowly 15th. The weekend has done little to ease the constant pressure which has surrounded Doohan since before a wheel was even turned this season.

With Alpine reserve Franco Colapinto continuing to be linked with Doohan’s seat, the 22-year-old could really do with a breakthrough performance to diminish the threat of being axed.