Right from the first laps on Friday, McLaren confirmed the predictions and is emerging as a strong contender for victory in Bahrain.
McLaren dominates Friday in Sakhir! Unlike this morning, however, it’s Oscar Piastri who leads the way, with a one-and-a-half tenth gap over teammate Lando Norris. Over half a second behind is the third-placed driver, with George Russell just a few thousandths quicker than Charles Leclerc.
Just like in Suzuka, Pirelli has made the hardest compounds available for this weekend: C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), and C3 (Soft). However, unlike in Japan, both the track characteristics and weather conditions are significantly different. In fact, this afternoon’s temperatures—expected to be similar to those during the race—are quite high: 31°C air temperature and 36°C track temperature, despite night having already fallen in Bahrain.
Moreover, the teams carried out pre-season testing at the Sakhir circuit from February 26th to 28th, so the engineers will have much more data available compared to other tracks. The main difference, however, lies in the weather conditions, as just over a month ago the sessions were marked by strong winds, which significantly lowered both air and track temperatures.
From testing, however, McLaren was by far the fastest car over the long run, with Lando Norris having the edge over Oscar Piastri. From the very first laps today, the Woking-based team seems to have lived up to expectations—but we know the true pecking order will only become clear on Sunday.
Speaking to Sky Sport F1, Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport director, stated that we are very likely to see a two-stop race, just like in 2024. However, while the winning strategy in the previous edition was Soft-Hard-Hard, this year the use of the medium tire cannot be ruled out, following its excellent performance in Suzuka.
Race pace analysis FP2 Bahrain: here are the times from this afternoon!
Unlike the last weekend in Suzuka, where few teams conducted a proper race pace simulation, mainly due to the four red flags during FP2, today all 20 drivers dedicated the last twenty-five minutes of the session to long runs in preparation for Sunday’s race.
As predicted, McLaren is certainly the favorite for Sunday’s race. The Woking team differentiated the program for the two drivers: in fact, Lando Norris went out on soft tires, while Oscar Piastri used hard tires.
In particular, the World Championship leader completed no less than 17 laps on the Soft tires, including the outlap and in-lap, effectively completing almost an entire stint in preparation for Sunday’s race. The pace of the British driver was impressive, although in the final laps, his times rose by about a second.
A relevant factor, however, was the traffic caused by Ollie Bearman’s Haas: in fact, during his eighth lap across the line, Norris found himself behind his compatriot and took three laps to overtake him. This suggests that McLaren prioritized efficiency in the more technical sections of the track, at the cost of slightly lower top speed on the straights.
The race pace simulation for Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, the winner of the last Grand Prix in Suzuka, was also quite long, with him using soft tires, which will most likely be the race tire. However, the current world champion’s pace was almost a second slower than Lando Norris’s McLaren, particularly in the early laps.
The race simulation for the two Ferraris was shorter: Lewis Hamilton, on Soft tires, completed only five laps before returning to the pits, while Charles Leclerc’s race simulation, on Medium tires, lasted about 8 laps, with consistent times around 1:38, indicating no significant tire degradation.
PHOTO: GPKingdom, Mclaren F1 Team, Scuderia Ferrari HP.
