Sakhir.- Before the engines start in Baréin, the British pilot Lando Norris (McLaren) maintains a meager advantage in the world championship over the four -time champion Max Verstappen.
The Dutch arrives in Sakhir after completing in Japan one of the best weekends of his career. After a ‘pole position’ sublime on Saturday at the Suzuka circuit, Verstappen kept the two McLaren at the wheel of a Red Bull that you still have to achieve your potential.
That performance left only a Norris point before visiting Sakhir, where Verstappen has won in the last two editions, with Red Bull managing to occupy the first two positions on both occasions.
Perhaps it is too early to ask that the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda aspire to complete that double, after taking the steering wheel of the second Red Bull before the Japan GP replacing Liam Lawson, but Verstappen arrives at the desert ready to unleash a sandstorm in its path.
While he acknowledges that he continues to “take the car to the limit,” focuses this weekend with expectations. “Baréin is typically a place where we have worked well,” he said this week.
“I always enjoy being there, so I hope to see what we hold for this week, hoping to increase the performance of the car as best we can.”
Ferrari looking for solutions
Far from sitting the foundations for achieving great objectives, Ferrari has been choking the season since the inaugural victory of Lewis Hamilton in Shanghai’s Esprint race last month.
The double disqualification of the seven -time world champion and his partner Charles Leclerc in China’s career has been followed by a fourth position of Leclerc and a discreet seventh post of Hamilton last Sunday.
The objective of the ‘Scuderia’ is to squeeze the performance of the SF-25 in the classification and in Sunday’s career.
“We are not where we want in terms of car performance and we are working hard with the aim of achieving solid progress. That will be our main objective in Sakhir,” said the patron of the Fred Vasseur team.
Better face have in Mercedes, Hamilton exequipo. Toto Wolff’s bet, patron of the ‘silver arrows’, in giving the British wheel to the adolescent Kimi Antonelli is giving good results.
The young Italian has shone in his three races and occupies an outstanding fifth position in the World Pilot Championship. Last week, he became the youngest pilot in the history of the Formula 1 In leading a race, beating the record that Verstappen had established in 2016.
He also became the youngest to get the quick return of a Grand Prix. Despite being out of the ‘Top 10’, he leads the table of the six ‘Rookies’ of this 2025. Nothing for the 18 -year -old, who has to continue studying in parallel to overcome the institute.
Away from the spotlights of ownership, young promises will be able to have minutes of practice in F1 cars during free training. It will be the case of the Bosnian-Sueco Dino Beganovic, pilot of the Ferrari Academy that will take the Leclerc steering wheel during the first free session. They can also demonstrate their talent the Danish Frederil Varades and the Japanese Ryo Hirakawa for Haas.
All this on a route that, despite having erected on an ancient camel farm in the middle of the desert, does not usually show a grain of sand on the asphalt, despite the usual wind conditions.
This peculiarity is due to a sticky and adhesive substance that spreads over 5.4 km from the circuit to reduce the risk.
