Sakhir: the first real signal that Ferrari is still in the game. Bahrain: The Race That Gave the Strongest Indication Yet of a Ferrari Ready to Fight.

On the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the predictions pointed to a boring and utterly predictable race: an easy McLaren one-two, a completely defensive Ferrari, and little else. Instead, the race turned out to be lively and interesting, with a much more significant performance convergence than expected, especially up until the Safety Car — a key moment that then shaped the second part of the race, nullifying the strategic games that had been forming.

McLaren clearly on top, but the gap in the second part of the race is misleading

Let’s be clear: there’s no doubt that the MCL39 was comfortably the best car on track, with Piastri keeping the lead from the start and never letting it go. However, despite the high tyre degradation — which should have amplified the technical advantage of the Woking team — the Australian couldn’t shake off Russell’s Mercedes for the entire first stint. It’s certainly true that car number 81 finished 15 seconds ahead, all of which were gained after the Safety Car, with an average pace nearly seven tenths faster per lap. Still, it must be noted that his McLaren (along with Norris’s) was the only car among the leaders in ideal conditions for the final stint, with fresh medium tyres. Russell, unable to use mediums again, was forced onto softs — and additionally suffered a series of electronic issues late in the race, including a brake-by-wire malfunction that made the brake pedal long and unresponsive. Right behind him, Leclerc was running on the hard compound — the worst of the three available — and could only defend himself until the finish.

Oscar Piastri thus dominated, deservedly, even if he didn’t “lap everyone,” as Norris had predicted beforehand. It should also be said that the reduction in minimum tyre pressure by Pirelli, combined with milder temperatures compared to free practice, helped to limit not so much the degradation as the overheating, slightly narrowing McLaren’s advantage over the rest of the field. The Bahrain race must therefore be considered a true coming of age for Piastri: he didn’t falter in tyre management nor in the Safety Car restart, pulling away when it mattered most at the end to build the gap. If last year people said Oscar Piastri still lacked the “90 minutes in his legs,” there’s no more doubt today. The traits he’s shown so far make him a serious title contender, having already won 2 out of 4 races. What stands out most is his mindset and determination: the impression is that he has only one goal in mind, and that’s the ideal approach for a challenging sport like Formula 1. His main rival remains Lando Norris — a very fast driver when his head is clear — but whose weakness is precisely in mental resilience. Norris needs to grow enormously on the psychological side to truly be in the fight: while one can hope he manages to do so, to add more excitement to the season, his path seems steeper than that of his teammate.

Russell phenomenal, Mercedes second-best team

George Russell’s second place is a true masterpiece of driving, aggression, management, and endurance, with a W16 that by the end was practically falling apart — yet he still managed to hold off Norris effectively. For Russell too, this is the start of a season where he looks like a title contender, with consistent performance, optimal race and tyre management, and increasingly solid qualifying showings. The “Lord” of Mercedes is carrying a team that, technically speaking, is currently the second-best on the grid, without getting too distracted by Antonelli, who continues to show phenomenal things and would probably attract even more media attention if not paired with a Russell in peak form.

Mercedes continues to perform well in traction, with good aerodynamic efficiency and high top speed, without sacrificing downforce. One of the secrets seems to be ride height, which the Brackley engineers appear to have managed brilliantly, giving great rear stability — a crucial advantage on a track like Sakhir. A pity, however, for the strategy chosen for Antonelli: despite some good overtakes and a solid race, he lost many positions at each pit stop, and the Safety Car delivered the final blow to his race. Nonetheless, his determination stood out, showing no reverence, as he demonstrated post-race: “We need to revisit the decisions with the team, because the pace was there.”

Ferrari much better than expected despite overall dissatisfaction

If the fourth place in Suzuka was quite bitter, revealing clear limits of the SF-25, the one in Bahrain should have a different flavor. On a “rear-limited” track like Sakhir, Ferrari’s rear-end weakness suggested huge gaps. Instead, it must be acknowledged that the Scuderia was in the mix during the race and even played a starring role in the middle phase.

The strategy team also did a great job changing plans mid-race. Starting on mediums was aimed at a one-stop strategy with hards in the second stint — the so-called “delta” plan, requested over the radio by Charles Leclerc himself. However, given the poor performance of the hard compound early on (see Max Verstappen), the pit wall changed strategy and opted for two stops.
Thanks to that decision and some fortunate timing with earlier pitters, both Ferrari cars rejoined after the first stop without losing ground, and on fresher tyres were able to push, showing themselves to be the fastest on track (until the Safety Car).

At that point, the plan for Lewis Hamilton — who had a strong, improving race — and Charles Leclerc, once again putting in an exceptional performance in both heart and technique, was to finish on softs. A promising choice that would have given Charles Leclerc a real shot at the podium. But the race neutralization forced an early stop, and the only options left were soft or hard. Given the high degradation seen in previous sessions, the choice had to fall on the (dreadful) hard compound. Charles Leclerc himself admitted at the end: “We couldn’t have done what Russell did on the softs.”

Technically and psychologically difficult moment

Summing up, though, Sakhir was, first and foremost, one of Ferrari’s worst tracks. Moreover, despite the high degradation, the track was particularly sensitive to compound choice, with big performance differences between soft and medium, and between medium and hard. In this context, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton ran almost the entire race on a worse compound than those around them, without ever being able to use the soft — which, as Lando Norris stated openly on the radio, was the best tyre in the race.

Yet, this was the race that gave the strongest impression so far this year of a Ferrari that has something to say, so much so that without the Safety Car, a first podium seemed achievable — and that should be seen as a positive sign for potential growth in the coming races, starting with Jeddah.

What stands out, however, is Fred Vasseur’s nervousness, who curtly replied “we are where we are” when asked by Sky Sport about the real gap to McLaren post-race, trying to lower expectations as much as possible for the next race in Jeddah. Charles Leclerc’s frustration, on the other hand, is easier to understand — he lamented the lack of pace in the car, even though, for instance, in China he had optimistically spoken of potential victory. The Maranello team seems to be going through a complicated phase, not just technically but also psychologically, between the SF25’s difficulties, Lewis Hamilton’s struggles, and Leclerc’s very understandable discontent. The race in Saudi Arabia — on a very different circuit that should highlight some of the gains made in Sakhir thanks to the updates — could help, if well executed.