Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Bahrain Grand Prix

Photo by Hamad I Mohammed from Reuters

Week 2 of the first triple header of the season is over, and yes, I missed this post for the Japanese Grand Prix because I was busy and things got in the way.

But the race was absolutely awful except for Max Verstappen who was unbelievable.

There you go. There’s the post.

Now, let’s get back to business with the winners and losers from the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Losers

5. Kimi Antonelli

This isn’t about Antonelli’s race itself, which I thought was absolutely fantastic, but about his simple luck.

He had some great pace and some awesome overtakes, but an unfortunate safety car had him finish outside of the points.

Sometimes that’s just how it goes.

4. Jack Doohan

Which is exactly how it went for Jack Doohan, as well.

After an abysmal race at Japan, Doohan was having an awesome weekend with Alpine.

But then his teammate had some of the best laps of his life in qualifying, and the same safety car that cost Antonelli a shot at points cost Doohan the same thing.

It’s a bummer for a driver who really needed a confidence boost.

3. Aston Martin

This team is bad.

The car is slow. Alonso is being passive aggressive about it. Stroll is showing some pain and frustration over it.

It’s just a bad car.

2. Lando Norris

A podium finish is good after starting 6th, but he still started 6th when his teammate put the car on pole and he has the fastest car.

It’s looking likely that the championship battle will be between Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri (and maybe Max too I don’t know), and if Norris has more qualifying’s like Bahrain and China when his teammate is putting it on pole, he’s going to have some issues.

1. Red Bull Racing

Formula 1 changes over time.

The dominant team ends up being farther down the order.

It happened after Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari dominance, Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull dominance, and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes dominance.

But those changes happened due to regulation changes.

We are two years removed from Red Bull setting the record for the most wins in a season, and I expected other teams would make up that gap and change the absolute dominance Red Bull had, but I did not expect Red Bull to be the 4th fastest car in the field.

4 time world champion Max Verstappen is pissed, and the rumors of him leaving are heating up. There is a power struggle at the top between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. Aero genius Adrian Newey has left for Aston Martin.

This team is in a complete freefall, and I don’t know when they’ll get out of it. Especially if they lose the best driver in the sport.

Winners

5. Yuki Tsunoda

It took four races, but the second Red Bull car finally has points thanks to Yuki Tsunoda!

Yippee!

In all seriousness, Yuki has done a very good job in a garbage car.

He probably should’ve started the season there, but it is what it is.

4. Haas

Double points for Haas!

I’ve been very, very impressed by Esteban Ocon and especially rookie Oliver Bearman this year, who had a horrible qualifying but a good race to get into the points.

Haas are best of the rest at the moment, and it’s well deserved.

3. George Russell

Another fantastic weekend for Mr. Consistency on the grid, splitting the McLaren’s and getting yet another podium.

He’s not the flashiest and most fun driver to watch on the grid, but in Russell’s situation, that’s very much so a good thing.

2. Oscar Piastri

Will Oscar Piastri win the championship this year? I don’t know.

What is very clear though, is that he has a championship in him.

His race craft is excellent. His qualifying has improved dramatically. He shows absolutely no emotion whatsoever, good or bad, so he always has a calm head.

He’s one of the sports best talents, and a seamless weekend from pole to win at Bahrain showed that once again.

1. Pierre Gasly

Gasly has had some tough luck despite some good races this year.

Australia’s rain disaster made everything a mess. He was just outside of the points before getting disqualified in China. Nobody could pass anyone at Japan.

But at Bahrain, his insane qualifying performance put his Alpine in P4 to start the race, and then he was battling for 5th for a long while before some unfortunate safety car luck found him in 7th, just barely falling behind Max Verstappen for 6th.

Still, that unfortunate luck is still better than the other luck he had this year, and his 6 points for Alpine finally makes it so every team on the grid now has points.

Maybe this can be the start of a solid run of races for the French team and driver.