Five winners and five losers from F1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

An unpredictable qualifying session at the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix threw up plenty of shocks up and down the grid.

Here are our winners and losers from a dramatic qualifying at Sakhir...

Winner - Oscar Piastri

As his teammate faltered, Oscar Piastri ensured McLaren did take pole position in Bahrain - something which had been considered a formality after the Woking outfit dominated all three practice sessions.

Piastri made the most of Lando Norris’s scruffy lap to record his second career F1 pole. It has given the Australian a huge opportunity to stamp his mark on this year’s world title fight, providing he can convert P1 into a second win of the year on Sunday.

Loser - Lando Norris

It was not the time for F1 world championship leader Norris to suffer his worst qualifying result of the season.

Norris looked likely to join his McLaren teammate on the front row but could only produce a lap good enough for sixth, representing a hugely disappointing result with a car that is viewed as the current benchmark.

The Briton cut a despondent figure after qualifying 0.426s behind Piastri.

Winner - George Russell

George Russell interrupted what was expected to be a private battle between the McLaren duo with his latest superb qualifying display.

Russell put his Mercedes on the front row alongside Piastri, who held a narrow 0.168s advantage over the Briton, whose own performances in 2025 have been going somewhat under the radar.

This is a result which could not be ignored with Russell now in prime position to challenge the faster McLarens on race day.

Updated: Russell will now start P3 after being handed a one-place grid penalty

Loser - Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton admitted there was no reason for his poor qualifying result other than his own performance. 

On a day Charles Leclerc  got the most out of his upgraded SF-25, Hamilton was well adrift of his teammate, and also ended up behind Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Williams’ Carlos Sainz in ninth. 

Another Saturday to forget for the seven-time world champion and F1’s most successful ever qualifier.

Winner - Charles Leclerc

Boosted with a new floor, Leclerc maximised his Ferrari to secure a third-place start for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Leclerc feels he has made a recent breakthrough in qualifying and that was underlined by a fantastic lap which split the Mercedes cars and left him just 0.334s shy of pole.

What’s more, the Monegasque outpaced Hamilton by a massive margin of six-tenths.

Updated: Leclerc will now start P2 following Russell's penalty

Loser - Red Bull

Red Bull are having a miserable weekend in Bahrain, with the RB21 lagging well off the pace of their rivals.

Max Verstappen did his best but simply could not reproduce his qualifying magic from Suzuka as he struggled with braking on his way to seventh. He can take some solace from the fact he will start right behind McLaren’s Norris, who leads the Dutchman in the championship by just one point.

Yuki Tsunoda enjoyed his strongest qualifying for Red Bull by reaching Q3 for the first time since his promotion, but P7 and P10 on the grid is well below the team’s expectations.

Winner - Pierre Gasly

Gasly took a stunning fifth on the grid for Alpine, outpacing a McLaren, a Ferrari, both Red Bull cars and ending up just 0.003s behind Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes as he emerged as the star of qualifying.

A notable mention goes to Gasly’s teammate Jack Doohan, who recorded his best F1 qualifying result yet with 11th - just missing out on his first Q3 appearance.

Alpine are the only team yet to score a point in 2025. Will this be the weekend the French manufacturer finally gets off the mark?

Updated: Gasly will now start P4 following Kimi Antonelli's penalty 

Loser - Aston Martin

Another torrid showing from Aston Martin, who have lacked pace so far in Bahrain.

Fernando Alonso was the slowest driver in Q2 and was outpaced by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg on his way to a disappointing 14th (prior to Hulkenberg’s retrospective lap time deletion bumping Alonso up to P13), while teammate Lance Stroll couldn’t even get out of Q1, ending up a lowly 19th.

Aston Martin ultimately held their hands up for making an error with the ride height on Stroll’s car.

Winner - Carlos Sainz

After a tricky weekend in Japan, Sainz bounced back with a great qualifying performance.

The Spaniard reached Q3 while Williams teammate Alex Albon was dumped out in the first session and went on to secure eighth on the grid, having outpaced Hamilton’s Ferrari and Tsunoda’s Red Bull.

From P8, Sainz will hope to add to his solitary point scored since arriving from Ferrari over the winter on Sunday.

Loser - Haas

A shocker of a qualifying under the lights for Haas, whose cars will start Sunday’s grand prix from 14th and last.

Esteban Ocon lost control of his Haas on his first flying lap of Q2 and crashed heavily, destroying the back-end of his car. Assuming he does not need to make changes outside of parc ferme conditions, he will start P14.

After his recent heroics, F1 rookie Ollie Bearman was brought back down to earth by ending up with the slowest time in qualifying.