Heroics Into Saint Devote

Race weekend four of the 2025 Formula One World Championship, and what a weekend we could have in store. Max Verstappen, hot on the heels of his surprise win at Suzuka Circuit in Japan, looking to make it two in a row for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix last year. Lando Norris, beaten by 1.4 seconds to the flag in Japan, desperate to reinstate himself on the top step of the podium and extend his 1-point lead in the championship. And what about Oscar Piastri? The young Aussie looked fired-up behind his Mclaren teammate in Japan, desperate for a shot at the Red Bull of Verstappen, who managed the pace of the race expertly to bring the troublesome RB21 home. All this, and more, in today’s Race Preview.

So Bahrain International Circuit. Famous for it’s asphalt. Made from crushed rock, ‘graywacke’ is predominantly produced in a quarry just outside Shrewsbury, the track was first layed in 2004 and has not been repaved since. Go us! Plucky Brits! Last we saw oh the Bahrain Grand Prix, it was the fifth recorded Grand Slam of Max Verstappen’s Formula One career. He led from lights to flag in a crushing victory over then-teammate, now out-of-the-sport Sergio Perez. But now, the scene may look a little different. Temperatures will be in the early 30s for the start of the race, and cool down to the high 20s toward the end, which does not bode well for the misled RB21. It has been a recurring theme that the Red Bull car does not favour warm conditions. It’s known to be tough on it’s tires and with the high heat, this will only accentuate tire degradation. The Mclaren MCL39 however, appears to be one of the best cars on the grid when it comes to tire wear and management. No doubt the Mclaren itself is a spaceship, much like the Red Bull RB19 time machine that Max piloted to 19/22 Grand Prix victories in the 2023 season. Making it statistically, the most successful Formula One car to date, with Perez picking up 2 Grand Prix wins, and Ferrari’s Sainz claiming the final in Singapore. Before the RB19, the most successful car of all time, on percentages, was Mclaren’s MP4/4 of the 1988 season, with Senna and Prost recording 15/16 grand prix wins, making it a 93.75% winrate, compared to the RB19s 95.45%. I know reader, I know… “B-b-but theres m-m-more grand prix races now!” SHUT UP. I KNOW.

Back to Bahrain. I got sidetracked. But I’m not taking that out because I like talking numbers with anybody who’ll listen. Last time out, Antonelli became the Youngest Driver to Lead a World Championship Grand Prix, edging out Max Verstappens record by 4 days. Though is this representative of Kimi Antonelli’s ability? Or is it just that he was on a differing strategy to the race leaders in Verstappen, Norris and Piastri? Either way, I do quite like Kimi. I reckon we aren’t too long from an Antonelli race win. Maybe a lucky pole conversion in Monaco will see it happen. Buying my lottery ticket now. I see why Toto Wolff was so desperate to have him drive the Mercedes W16 alongside British teammate George ‘Mr Saturday’ Russell. Who has also exceeded my expectations this year. I’ve been super impressed with how he’s stepped up to play the ‘team leader’ role (I hate that.) I do hate how the media have to call one driver in a team a ‘lead driver’. I know it comes naturally to some teams, Verstappen having crushed every teammate he ever had, but some teams the line is just too blurred. Williams for example, Albon should be the lead driver based on race results. But to discredit Carlos Sainz like that is downright shameful. Then Mclaren. Who’s the lead driver there? Sky Sports and Ted Kravitz would have you believe it’s Lando Norris. But come on. Surely Piastri can’t be discounted already. And for those curious, Ted Kravtiz claimed Lando Norris was Mclaren’s World Drivers Championship shot in pre-season testing.

Damn. I got side-tracked. Again. I need to lock in. What have we talked about? The track surface, Verstappen and Norris, the Mclaren rocketship, Mercedes. Ah. Isack Hadjar. After a really rather impressive weekend in Japan, and his first Formula One Championship points in the bag, Hadjar must be coming to Bahrain full of confidence. And I fully expect that trend to continue. He’s been vocal to the media this week about how ‘ready’ he feels to be in the sister team, though Yuki Tsunoda’s recent words suggest how surprised he himself is that Verstappen is able to handle the RB21 as well as he does. And with Tsunoda now in his 5th consecutive year in the championship, this makes me believe Isack is getting ahead of himself and can smell an early promotion on the horizon if Tsunoda fails to improve. I think Isack doesn’t know the beast the RB21 really is, and if Tsunoda struggles, who says Isack wouldn’t? Sure he finished 2nd in the F2 championship last year, after throwing away his shot at the title against Gabriel Bortoletto by stalling on the grid in the Abu Dhabi feature race, but Tsunoda finished 3rd in what was a really rather competitive season against the likes of Mick Schumacher, who won, Robert Shwartzman, who is now applying his talent in the Ferrari 499P Hypercar squad in the WEC and Zhou Guanyu who is currently still in the sport with Sauber. I do not expect to see Helmut Marko cave for a second time this season, as he claimed Tsunoda had his full backing. But we’ll see.

In other news, George Russell claims the FIA is heading in an unstable direction after the resignation of Deputy President Robert Reid amid the turmoil the leadership faces. He cited a “breakdown of governing standards” in his letter of resignation that he handed directly to Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Thursday morning. Supposedly, “critical decisions being made without due process” after Ben Sulayem made alterations to how the FIA is being run and officiated. He claims, when he took the role, it was to “serve the FIA’s members and not serve power” which seems in line with what we have seen from Ben Sulayem in recent times. The introduction of penalties for language has not only been criticised by the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GDPA), but also the Rally Drivers association, who claimed the penalties weren’t reasonable and portrayed them to be wealthier than they really are. At the end of his statement, he states “motorsport deserves leadership that is accountable, transparent and member-driven.” This raises more questions than it answers. Is there more instability in the FIA than we knew? Will this set off a chain reaction? He finalises by saying that he can “no longer, in good faith, remain part of a system that does not reflect those values” in his brutal letter. Robert Reid was also one of those who was refused entry to FIA World Motorsport Council after refusing to sign a non-disclosure agreement which was introduced and enforced by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the likes of which haven’t been seen before. In response, the FIA have denied the claims Robert made, and has said “the FIA has exceptionally robush corporate policies which guide operations and ensure rules, practices and processes are adhered to.” I dread to think what the FIA HR Department looks like.

I’ll leave it at that for now I think. Anything else will be in the Practice Review on Saturday. See you soon readers.