Oscar Piastri became the first driver to win two grands prix this year, but was he the top performer in Bahrain? Here’s our verdict on the full field.
Lando Norris
▼ Ill-timed fumble in Q3 left him four places lower than he should have been
▼ Gained three places at the start but penalised for lining up incorrectly in his start box
▶ Got a run at Leclerc at the restart but couldn’t get by at turn one and lost a place to Hamilton
▶ Correctly returned position to Hamilton after going off while fighting him
▶ Passed Hamilton and, eventually, Leclerc
▶ Had to settle for third after unsuccessful last-lap attack on Russell
4/10: Second place was possible and Norris blew several chances to take it
Oscar Piastri
▲ Consistently looked the quicker of the two McLaren drivers in practice
▲ Claimed pole position with smooth performance through qualifying
▶ Unchallenged throughout the race
8/10: The kind of championship-worthy performance Norris needs to produce
Charles Leclerc
▲ Built up speed throughout qualifying and produced excellent lap in Q3
▶ Starting on mediums meant he lost places to soft-shod Russell and Norris
▲ Sustained good pace into second stint where he passed Norris
▶ Safety Car blunted his strategy
▶ Eventually succumbed to Norris’s attacks and lost third
7/10: Not much more he could do in a Ferrari given the Safety Car timing
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Lewis Hamilton
▼ Despite floor changes, qualifying showed he still hasn’t clicked with car yet
▶ Held his place at the start from drivers behind on softer rubber
▶ Showed better pace once he got past Sainz in first stint, and in free air in second stint
▲ Opportunistic pass on Norris after the Safety Car period temporarily got him ahead
▼ Not as competitive on the hard rubber and dropped back from Leclerc
6/10: Glimpses of his Shanghai sprint race pace in the grand prix, but qualifying remains a concern
Max Verstappen
▶ Risky qualifying strategy only secured progression to Q2 and Q3 with his final runs
▼ Lost a place to Sainz at the start
▶ Had difficulty passing midfielders Sainz, Ocon and Gasly
▶ Slow pit stops dropped him further back
▶ Safety Car timing also played against him
▲ Persevered to take sixth place off Gasly on final lap
7/10: Utterly dogged in the face of persistent misfortune
Yuki Tsunoda
▶ Like Verstappen, only got through to Q2 and Q3 with his final runs
▼ Further off his team mate than any other driver in qualifying
▶ Passed Sainz early on, then was passed by him
▶ Fortunate to avoid a penalty for hitting Sainz
▶ Lost time at first pit stop for same reason as Verstappen, but second visit was fine
▶ Passed Doohan for ninth in final stint
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.075s faster
5/10: Kept his nerve in qualifying but should be grateful the stewards looked the other way when he hit Sainz
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
▲ Untroubled by lost practice time at a track he is familiar with
▶ Continues to reduce his deficit to Russell in qualifying
▼ Had to go off twice on the first lap which cost him two places
▶ Passed Sainz but pace wasn’t as strong as Russell’s on first stint
▶ Mercedes’ gamble to put him on softs with 30 laps to go backfired when the Safety Car came out
▶ Lost more ground when forced off by Sainz
▶ Pushed his luck with track limits
6/10: Had some misfortunes but should have found a way past Bearman for final point
George Russell
▲ Excellent performance in qualifying, lost front row start due to team’s error
▲ Immediately up to second at the start and made bold attempt to take the lead
▶ Clearly didn’t have pace to challenge Piastri
▲ Out-running Norris for second shouldn’t have been possible, especially with brake-by-wire problems
▶ Avoided penalty for accidental DRS misuse
9/10: Team and car let him down at times but he continues to get the best out of the Mercedes
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Lance Stroll
▶ Team claimed set-up error was to blame for deficit to Alonso in qualifying
▶ Passed medium-shod Bortoleto at the start
▶ Let Alonso past when told to in race
▼ Dropped back from team mate before and after the Safety Car, though the gap wasn’t huge
5/10: Ineffective, even allowing for his team’s explanation for qualifying
Fernando Alonso
▶ Used three new sets of softs to reach Q2, then ran older rubber in the second session to save a fresh set for the race
▲ Started on mediums but gained a place from Hadjar at the start
▼ Dropped back quickly in the opening stint as Albon and the Haas pair came by
▶ While others took soft tyres when the Safety Car came out, Alonso did not use the set he saved from qualifying
▶ Reached Q2 but set best time in Q1, 0.252s faster
6/10: Aston Martin clearly had no faith in their performance on softs which compromised his result
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Jack Doohan
▼ Said he got his tyres too hot in Q2 after failing to join Gasly in Q3
▶ Early pit stop got him up to ninth place
▶ Pitted for hards shortly before the Safety Car came out
▼ Couldn’t keep his rear tyre temperatures under control which allowed several rivals to pass
▼ Penalised for committing too many track limits breaches
4/10: Clearly a missed opportunity to score his first points
Pierre Gasly
▲ Clear signs of pace in practice which he delivered on with a superb lap in qualifying
▶ Kept Antonelli and Verstappen behind before early first pit stop
▶ Pitting before the Safety Car was not ideal
▼ Could have put up a stronger fight for sixth place given it was the last lap
8/10: Fully deserved his first points finish of the season
Esteban Ocon
▼ Several drivers had snaps in turn two in qualifying, but Ocon lost control completely and crashed
▲ Gained two places in first two laps
▲ Aggressively early pit stop propelled him as high as sixth
▶ Lost places to Hamilton and Verstappen, which was to be expected
7/10: Rebounded superbly from qualifying error
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Oliver Bearman
▼ Not happy with braking performance for much of the weekend and qualified last
▶ Team admitted they should have given him three runs in Q1
▲ Gained five places with superb start, then passed Alonso
▶ Ran longer at the start than Ocon which meant the Safety Car played into his hands beautifully
▲ Pounced on his chance to pass Doohan and never buckled under pressure from Antonelli
6/10: Much like his team mate, Bearman did well to put a poor Saturday behind him
Isack Hadjar
▼ Admitted he should have pushed harder on his Q2 lap after narrowly missing top 10
▼ Wheelspin at the start led him to lose four places
▶ Very short first stint left him at a strategic disadvantage
▼ Middle stint pace on mediums was poor
4/10: Several errors added up to a disappointing result
Liam Lawson
▼ Missed Q2 after wheelspin at final corner led him to back off, causing his DRS to close
▶ Enjoyed more success on a different strategy to his team mate
▼ Penalised twice for collisions with rivals
4/10: Better pace than Hadjar but created too many problems for himself
Alexander Albon
▶ Stewarding error prevented him from joining Q2
▶ Said the team didn’t send him out early enough to ensure he got a clean final lap in Q1
▲ Made good progress over the opening stint and was running behind his team mate by lap nine
▶ Ran longer than anyone on softs at the start
▶ Couldn’t fight his way into the points after the Safety Car
6/10: Had the pace for points
Carlos Sainz Jnr
▲ Continued to come good in qualifying
▲ Made a great start to run sixth
▼ Antonelli and Verstappen got by, then Hamilton and Tsunoda
▶ Got ahead of Tsunoda again but was hit by the Red Bull, suffering heavy sidepod damage
▶ Penalised 10 seconds for forcing Antonelli off, which he served before retiring with damage
7/10: Took too much out of his tyres early on but was poised to rebound when Tsunoda wrecked his race
Nico Hulkenberg
▼ Incorrectly waved through into Q2 by the stewards after a track limits error
▼ Lost four places at the start after being forced wide at turn two
▶ Short first stint meant he didn’t gain from the Safety Car but still recovered well enough for 15th
▶ Disqualified due to a technical infringement
4/10: A few too many errors, though the disqualification rendered them moot
Gabriel Bortoleto
▶ Third consecutive Q1 elimination but deficit to Hulkenberg was negligible
▶ Started on the medium rubber and was able to make his second pit stop under the Safety Car
▼ Ran last on hard tyres in middle stint and slipped back
▶ Couldn’t get close enough to Stroll to attack at end of race
4/10: Closer to his team mate in qualifying than the race
Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
