LIVE: Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying Updates

By Peter Johnson

Oscar Piastri topped the final Practice session for McLaren | Credit: Formula One

18:23 That's it for Qualifying this evening in Bahrain. We go again tomorrow as we wait to see whether Lando Norris will be able to charge through the field from sixth and get after his teammate Oscar Piastri. George Russell and Pierre Gasly have arguably been the standout performers today and will be hoping to convert their impressive starting positions into serious points.

18:21 A word from your pole-sitter Oscar Piastri: "I've felt confident out there pretty much all weekend. I've felt really comfortable with the car and in Qualifying the others caught up more than I would have wanted but I was able to post the lap at the end. I can't thank the team enough for the car they have given me and I'm excited for the race tomorrow."

18:15 The top ten for tomorrow's Bahrain GP: 1 Piastri, 2 Russell, 3 Leclerc, 4 Antonelli, 5 Gasly, 6 Norris, 7 Verstappen, 8 Sainz, 9 Hamilton, 10 Tsunoda

18:13 Pierre Gasly has become rather used to starting at the back in Bahrain, but has done a stellar job to qualify fifth.

18:12 Piastri takes pole by the biggest margin of the season, 0.168 seconds ahead of Russell. Mercedes will be delighted with that, as Antonelli will also start in P4. In spite of the clear place in the McLaren, Norris will start just one position ahead of Max Verstappen who has been struggling all weekend.

18:11 Oscar Piastri leaps to the top of the time sheets while Lando Norris cannot improve on sixth!!

18:10 Leclerc splits the Mercedes as Gasly goes fourth!

18:10 Antonelli goes fastest, but his delight is short-lived as Russell usurps him by two-tenths.

18:09 Kimi Antonelli will be the first to finish his lap, while teammate Russell goes purple in the first sector.

18:09 All ten cars are now out on fresh tyres in the shootout for Pole.

18:08 Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli have both had their Q3 lap times deleted so are back down in ninth and tenth.

18:06 A very strange occurrence here. Nico Hülkenberg has only just had his fastest time from Q1 deleted for a track limits offence. He popped up in 15th to bump Alex Albon out of Qualifying some 45 minutes ago. Wiliams will not be happy with that.

18:05 Five minutes to go in Q3 and not many representative times set so far. We are still waiting for a number of drivers to post a lap on fresh tyres.

18:04 Piastri edges out Russell by a tenth, but Norris only slots into third behind the Mercedes. Leclerc is currently fourth, but over a second off the pace.

18:03 A stunning lap from George Russell sees him go a second faster than anybody else, although we await a lap time from the two McLarens.

18:03 Verstappen says his brakes are "terrible" and he "can't brake at all."

18:02 Even more unusually, Verstappen is not able to match his teammate. He made a mistake in Turn One and is half a second down on Tsunoda, but both were on used tyres.

18:00 The Red Bulls of Verstappen and Tsunoda will be the first to set times in Q3. Bizarrely in this current era of F1, it would be a surprised to see either in the fight for pole.

17:58 In-keeping with the 100% pole-to-win conversion rate we have seen so far this season, each of the last three Bahrain Grands Prix have also been won by the polesitter.

17:57 Q3 will be underway in a couple of moments. Qualifying has generally been a very close affair this season, with the biggest gap to pole being 0.084 seconds between Norris and Piastri in Australia. You would imagine it will be those two slogging it out again here.

17:53 Both Mercedes will be investigated after the session for emerging into the pit lane before a restart time was confirmed for Q2 following Ocon's crash.

17:52 The two McLarens headed the field again in that session, while Mercedes continue to look strong in 4th and 5th. Pierre Gasly could yet be the standout performer here, as he went third in his Alpine.

17:51 The two Red Bulls squeeze through in ninth and tenth as Yuki Tsunoda reaches Q3 for the first time in Bahrain The bottom five are: 11 Doohan; 12 Hadjar; 13 Hülkenberg; 14 Alonso; 15 Ocon

17:49 Lots of drivers still on track and improving as the chequered flag falls.

17:49 Pierre Gasly goes third in the Alpine, while Verstappen can only climb to seventh. Tsunoda is ninth and under pressure.

17:48 Two-by-two-by-two currently, McLaren, from Mercedes from Ferrari.

17:47 Lewis Hamilton has not set a time in his Ferrari either and is a tenth down on Piastri after the first sector. There are a lot of green sectors here.

17:46 Three minutes remaining and Verstappen, Hadjar, Ocon, Alonso and Tsunoda are the bottom five. None have set a lap time yet, and Ocon definitely won't.

17:44 Nine drivers have so far set lap times and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari is currently the fastest non-McLaren driver, but he is six-tenths down on Piastri's pace-setting time. McLaren have never achieved a pole position in Bahrain, but today could well be the day.

17:43 Lando Norris goes six-tenths clear of Antonelli, before Piastri goes a tenth quicker. Verstappen was on a decent lap but chose to abandon it, as he did with his first run in Q1.

17:42 Russell is a couple of tenths down on Antonelli. Norris and Verstappen are both part way round the track, as is Oscar Piastri.

17:41 The Mercedes pair of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell will be the first two to set lap times. Both will be eyeing a second row start behind the two McLarens.

17:37 Unsurprisingly, there is a mad rush to get back out on track. Ocon will be eliminated in Q2, but the remaining 14 drivers will now do battle to avoid joining him.

17:36 The session will resume in one minute's time.

17:33 Not a single driver had completed a lap time in Q2. We will have 11 minutes and one second remaining when we eventually resume.

17:31 Not a dissimilar accident to the one suffered by his Haas predecessor Nikita Mazepin back in 2021.

17:31 It looks like the Haas driver lost control of the car coming out of the opening chicane and has gone into the barriers rearwards.

17:30 RED FLAG! Esteban Ocon is in the wall at Turn 3.

17:27 Only a minute into Q2 and the track is already heavily populated with cars. Nobody is electing to sit about in the garage, unlike in Q1.

17:25 It appears that Liam Lawson had a problem with his DRS in Q1, which contributed to his RB not being able to do any better than P17.

17:23 Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen made up the top three in that first session, with less than two-tenths separating them. Oscar Piastri did not set an improved lap time and was fourth.

17:22 The five drivers eliminated in Q1: 16 Albon; 17 Lawson; 18 Bortoleto; 19 Stroll; 20 Bearman

17:21 Alex Albon is briefly safe, jumping up to P15, but Nico Hülkenberg is the final man to cross the line in his Sauber and displaces the Thai driver.

17:20 Max Verstappen goes third fastest, while Yuki Tsunoda pops up in 11th. Both Red Bulls are ok.

17:19 Jack Doohan puts his Alpine third behind the two McLarens. Liam Lawson is up to P14 in his RB.

17:19 Both Bortoleto and Stroll jump out of the bottom five, but only to P14 and P15 respectively.

17:18 Oliver Bearman goes P13 which is unlikely to be enough to see him progress. Bear in mind neither Red Bull has posted a time yet.

17:16 Unlike what we have seen at the first three races this season, the lap times in Bahrain are slower than those that we saw in 2024. The quickest Q1 time last year was Carlos Sainz with a 1:29.909. Oscar Piastri's leading time is a good second slower than that.

17:14 Just under six minutes to go here and everybody has set a lap time except the two Red Bulls. Tsunoda's first lap which provisionally put him fastest was struck off for track limits. The slowest three drivers to have posted a lap are Lance Stroll, Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto.

17:12 Lando Norris said last night that McLaren had had a "difficult" Friday, but they've had a fairly routine Saturday so far by the looks of it. The papaya cars certainly seem to have a few tenths in their pocket compared to the rest.

17:11 Here come the McLarens, who predictably go first and second. Norris heads Piastri by almost three-tenths. Charles Leclerc is currently best of the rest, three-and-a-half-tenths down on Norris.

17:10 Both Ferraris have now posted lap times. It has been a difficult weekend so far for the Scuderia and Lewis Hamilton cannot beat Doohan's time.

17:09 I mentioned the Alpine of Pierre Gasly before, who looked quick yesterday morning. Both he and teammate Jack Doohan are currently in the top three.

17:08 The Red Bull pair are the first of the expected front runners to head out on flying laps. Max Verstappen locks up at the final corner and aborts his lap, while Yuki Tsunoda goes quickest. Tsunoda has had a tricky weekend so far, only managing P18 and P20 in FP2 and FP3 respectively.

17:05 Only a couple of lap times on the board so far and Fernando Alonso is the early pace setter. Curiously, he has outqualified teammate Lance Stroll in every Qualifying session this season, although Stroll has scored every single one of Aston Martin's points.

17:02 Nico Hülkenberg, who managed just seven laps in Practice 3 in his Sauber, is also on track early. It is 15 years since he made his debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.

17:01 Green light at the end of the pit lane and Qualifying is GO. The Aston Martin of Lance Stroll is the first man on track.

16:58 It's hard to look past a McLaren pole position here. Either Norris or Piastri was fastest in each of the three practice sessions and only one driver (Alpine's Pierre Gasly in FP1) was able to get within half a second of the lead McLaren.

16:56 Lando Norris in Australia, Lewis Hamilton in the China sprint, Oscar Piastri in the Chinese Grand Prix and Max Verstappen in Japan. What do they have in common? Yes, they won the race, but they ALL also qualified on pole position. It just goes to show how crucial these Qualifying sessions have been so far in 2025.

16:55 Hello and welcome along to Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, at a much more favourable time of 5pm in the UK!