Max Verstappen sixth in Bahrain Grand Prix: 'Nothing worked'

Published on 13 April 2025 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen has come sixth in the Bahrain Grand Prix after powering through a race riddled with slow pit stops and car struggles. After starting on P7, Max lost a place in the opening lap. He quickly reclaimed his position, but made no headway to pass the drivers ahead. In the last lap, Max found a silver lining to his race by passing Pierre Gasly to take sixth place. At the front of the race were Oscar Piastri in his McLaren, driving to a dominant victory from pole position. George Russell (Mercedes) and Lando Norris (McLaren) completed the podium.

After the race, Max elaborated on his experience: “Nothing worked. Bad start. After the first pitstop, I don’t know what happened, but the light wouldn’t turn off, so according to protocol I’m not allowed to drive, so something must have gone wrong with the button. Then you get stuck in traffic. The hard tyres didn’t work at all. Then we went back in, and that pitstop was even worse, and I was back in traffic. I think I was last at that point. To still get P6 after the safety car was positive, but we were not quick at all. The biggest problem is tyre degradation and the balance of the car.”

Max then followed up his comments: “It really did not go well out there. I couldn’t brake, I couldn’t turn in, I had no traction, just nothing. Of course you try something else in the last lap. I tried to maximize my points, so that was fun, but altogether it was a bad race.”

In spite of the bad weekend, Max expects Jeddah to be a more positive experience: “Normally you have a bit less tyre degradation, so that will automatically go a bit better, but here at Bahrain you can really see how bad our problems are. On these kinds of circuits it’s really bad, we are running behind.”

Just after sundown, the 57-lap Bahrain Grand Prix is set to start on the 5.412 meter long Bahrain International Circuit. From the top twelve on the grid, only the Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc on P2 and Lewis Hamilton on P9 are starting on the medium compound tyres. The remaining drivers are on the soft compound tyres. Max has a hectic start from P7 and drops a position in the opening phase of the race. Polesitter Piastri maintains his lead, followed by Russell and Norris, the latter of which flies from his starting position on P6. Replay shots show that his start was generously helped by his car being parked well outside the grid box, and the Brit collects a five-second penalty for his trouble.

Max passes Carlos Sainz in lap five, driving back into P7. The Dutchman already heads into the pits in lap eleven for his first pit stop. A slow 4,7 second pitstop sees Max’s car outfitted with hard tyres, and Max returns to the grid in sixteenth. It’s not long before other drivers also head into the pits. Norris went for his pitstop alongside Max and served his penalty, rejoining the grid in P14.

Leader Piastri makes his stop in turn fifteen and drops to P3, behind the Ferrari’s who are yet to change their tyres. It’s in lap eighteen that the Ferrari’s finally head into the pits and Piastri is promoted back to the top place, followed by Russell and Leclerc. Meanwhile Max is back in P7 behind Esteban Ocon. In the Oracle Red Bull Racing-driver’s rearview mirrors is Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who succesfully passes Max in lap 20. The hard tyres are costing Max serious pace – in lap 23 a succesful overtake manoeuvre by Lewis Hamilton demotes the Dutchman to P9.

In lap 27 Max heads in for his second pit stop. After another slow pit stop of 6,2 seconds, he returns to the track on medium tyres. Meanwhile, an intense battle between Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz causes the track to be sprayed with debris. A safety car is deployed in lap 32. Many drivers benefit from a free stop, but Max stays out, having only just pitted. He is promoted to P8.

The track is freed in lap 36. Piastri maintains the lead of the race, followed by Russell. Norris prepares to attack Leclerc, but gets wrapped up in a battle with Hamilton instead. Two laps later, Max makes the move on Ocon and passes him for P7. Carlos Sainz has to retire his Williams in lap 47; his sidepods are damaged after an incident with Tsunoda.

Norris reapplies the pressure on Leclerc, and eventually passes him in lap 52 to claim third place. Norris then commences the hunt to catch George Russell. The Mercedes-driver manages to outmanoeuvre him, and crosses the finish line ahead of the McLaren-driver. Max passes Pierre Gasly in the last lap of the race, salvaging his race to get sixth place. At the front of the grid, it’s Oscar Piastri who claims his fourth race win. George Russell comes second, followed by championship leader Lando Norris in P3. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari’s come fourth and fifth, with Max just behind. Pierre Gasly collects Alpine’s first points of the season with an impressive seventh place, while Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Oliver Bearman complete the top ten.

Results Grand Prix Bahrain: