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F1 returns to Sakhir this weekend for the Bahrain Grand Prix and round four of the 2025 F1 season.
It was another difficult weekend for Ferrari in Suzuka, short of pace compared to the frontrunners, with Charles Leclerc finishing in fourth and Lewis Hamilton down in seventh, though the Brit hinted that a change is forthcoming to the SF-25 car.
Now, the grid returns to Bahrain - where pre-season testing took place in February - for the second race in the Asian triple-header. Verstappen won last year’s race in Bahrain, leading home a Red Bull one-two.
Follow live updates from the Bahrain Grand Prix with The Independent - the race starts at 4pm (BST).
When is the Bahrain Grand Prix?
Time BST
Sunday 13 April
Kieran Jackson12 April 2025 18:54
McLaren boss Zak Brown on Lando Norris:
“He needs a good clean start, pick off a car or two, a one-two is definitely the goal.
“Don’t overthink it, relax, there’s a reason he’s the championship leader.”
Norris starts P6...
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:50
Time for the Bahrain national anthem!
All the drivers are this time in attendance on time!
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:46
Lewis Hamilton, ahead of starting ninth on the grid this afternoon:
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:40
Bahrain Grand Prix race winner odds
- Oscar Piastri - 2/5
- Lando Norris - 6/1
- Charles Leclerc, George Russell - 12/1
- Max Verstappen - 22/1
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli - 28/1
- Lewis Hamilton 66/1
- Pierre Gasly - 80/1
- Carlos Sainz - 300/1
- Yuki Tsunoda - 400/1
- Isack Hadjar - 1000/1
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:35
FLASHBACK: The year a scorching Bahrain Grand Prix smashed F1 temperature record
“I was so excited about the race that I didn’t even sweat,” Pedro De la Rosa tells The Independent. “I didn’t drink at all – back then if you didn’t put in a drinks bottle, you saved weight on the car. So, we didn’t even fit it.”
Performance over health? He won’t be the last in F1. Yet the second iteration of the Bahrain Grand Prix, 20 years ago, was the most extreme example in the sport’s 75-year history of drivers prioritising pace over physical condition. At 42.6C, beating 40C temperatures in Dallas and Detroit in the mid-1980s, it was the hottest F1 race ever.
Full feature below:
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:28
NEW: Michael Schumacher signs F1 race helmet with aid of his wife Corinna
Michael Schumacher has signed a race helmet with the help of his wife Corinna – more than 11 years since his life-changing skiing accident.
Schumacher, 56, suffered severe injuries in a skiing accident in Meribel, France, in December 2013, and has not been seen publicly since.
Yet Schumacher has, alongside every living F1 world champion, signed a helmet with his initials “MS”, which is being sold to raise funds for Sir Jackie Stewart’s Race Against Dementia charity.
“It is wonderful that Michael could sign the helmet in this worthy cause – a disease for which there is no cure,” Stewart said.
Full story below:
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:18
Jackie Stewart driving his 1973 championship-winning Tyrrell on an exhibition lap
Special moment for the three-time F1 world champion earlier in Bahrain...
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:13
Lewis Hamilton apologises to Ferrari F1 team after poor qualifying in Bahrain
Oscar Piastri claimed pole position for McLaren while Mercedes’ George Russell – Hamilton’s former teammate – will start in second.
Yet while Hamilton struggled for pace in the final phase of qualifying, his current teammate at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, found some form and will start from third.
Hamilton, who will start a spot behind Williams’ Carlos Sainz – the man he replaced at Ferrari – could not hide his despondency afterwards.
Full quotes below:
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:08
F1 driver standings after three races:
2. Max Verstappen – 61 points
3. Oscar Piastri – 49 points
4. George Russell –45 points
5. Kimi Antonelli – 30 points
6. Charles Leclerc – 20 points
7. Alex Albon – 18 points
9. Esteban Ocon – 10 points
10. Lance Stroll – 10 points
11. Nico Hulkenberg – 6 points
13. Isack Hadjar – 4 points
12. Ollie Bearman – 5 points
15. Carlos Sainz – 1 point
16. Pierre Gasly – 0 points
17. Liam Lawson – 0 points
18. Jack Doohan – 0 points
19. Gabriel Bortoleto – 0 points
20. Fernando Alonso – 0 points
Kieran Jackson13 April 2025 15:00
English (US) ·