Charles Leclerc to Sit Out for One Session at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari has announced that Charles Leclerc will sit out of the first practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He will be replaced by up and coming F2 star Dino Beganovic. The move is likely less about Leclerc’s recent shortcomings and more about getting their young drivers seat time at the top level of racing. As part of the F1 guidelines each team must field a rookie in their car twice per year as an initiative to push forward driver development.

While the Ferraris have not performed in 2025 and the team is clearly falling behind in development to their competitors. The double disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix didn’t help their cause. Ferrari is looking to bounce back in Japan next week to put themselves back in the fight for the constructors championship.

It appears that there may be truth to the rumors that have circled the social media airways over the past weekend regarding Liam Lawson and his seat at Red Bull. The change will be effective for the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix which serves as Yuki Tsunoda’s home race. The pressure on Tsunoda to perform will be immense. Some to believe he should not take the seat for fear of not being able to adapt to the additional layers of complexity with the Red Bull RB21.

While neither driver was available for comment on the matter; one thing is clear. Red Bull have a driver problem. Without a second driver that can score points Red Bull’s chance at taking back the constructors championship looks bleak. The change has likely occurred because its still early in the season and Red Bull is not yet out of the fight. The team can’t afford to lose ground week after week so the decision came down from the board. Lawson has out performed Tsunoda in the past, but since Lawson has made the transition to the parent team he has not scored a point in the first two race weekends in 2025.

Tsunoda Needs to Adjust to Succeed

Yuki Tsunoda is a talented driver. However, his shortcomings have come often when on track. There are multiple example where he’s let his emotions get the best of him which has definitely impacted his performance and points finishes in the past. However, this year Tsunoda has already scored points and his on track presence cant be ignored. Team Principal Christian Horner has gone on record saying no decision ahs been made to remove Lawson but where there is smoke there is fire and given our credible sources there will be movement ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Red Bull need to find harmony soon otherwise the constructors and drivers championships will slip out of reach.

It’s no secret that the Red Bull Formula Team has a reputation for having a short fuse when it comes to their driver performance. Unfortunately for what felt like a dream at the beginning of the season; Liam Lawson’s first team start to the season has gone nothing but bad thus far. Lawson has failed to score points after two race weekends and the rumor mills are filled with ideas that Red Bull is already looking for a replacement. Christian Horner Offered some clarity on the situation.

“He’s a young guy, we’ve got a duty to look after him,” said Horner. “We’re going to do the best that we can to support him. Liam’s still a very capable driver, we know that, we’re just not… for whatever reason, we’re not seeing him able to deliver that at the moment.” Horner was asked whether Yuki Tsunoda was considered next in line for the seat and Horner responded, “I’m not even going to comment on a change, because that will be your first headline. As I say, we’re two races into this championship, we have a sample of two [races].”

“We have quite a bit of information, so we’re going to go away and have a good look at it, work with Liam, and do the best we can for him. There’s so much info available, how he’s adapted driving the car, what he’s getting from the car, what we can do to help, where were his major issues, what’s causing the inconsistency… all of those issues.”

The Chinese Grand Prix was a weekend to remember for some and one to forgot for others. The former applies to none other than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who converted his first F1 pole position into his first win marking history for the young driver. McLaren also secure a 1-2 finish with Lando Norris behind. George Russell finished the race in 3rd ahead of Max Verstappen.

McLaren dominated in China with superior pit strategy and tire management that saw them carry their pace into the closing stages of the grand prix. Piastri built up nearly a 10 second gap to second place and brought the car home for the checkered. Pistrasi said “It’s been an incredible weekend, and the car has been mega the whole time. The tyres behaved very differently to the earlier sessions in China but the race we’ve managed to pull-off this afternoon has been excellent. The support from the grandstands and all the papaya fans has been terrific and we can be proud of the 1-2 result we’ve secured through hard work. I’m looking forward to some time back at the factory in preparation for the upcoming triple-header.”

Lando Norris Comments on P2 Finish for McLaren

Lando Norris also offer his post grad prix thoughts, “Overall, a good result today in what was a very tough race with tyre management required. I don’t think a lot of people were expecting a one-stop strategy, but the team executed it well to secure a strong result with great points. We’ll debrief the entire weekend to look at the positives and the areas we need to work on before we head to Japan next month. A big thank you to everyone in papaya for their effort and support this weekend!”

Trouble in the Red Bull Camp

Liam Lawson failed once again to secure points for Red Bull in China. The young driver saw early promise in his substitute stint for the now Racing Bulls sister team. However, his transition to the first team car has been turbulent. Lawson hasn’t yet found a rhythm with the RB21. Lawson is currently the topic of rumor mills around the world who speculate whether he will be able to retain his seat at Red Bull long term. With whispers of his removal already circulating Lawson will liekly have one more opportunity to prove he has what it takes to man the number 2 car at Red Bull. Yuki Tsunoda is knocking on the door for the seat; a seat Tsunoda felt should have been his in the first place. Time will tell how this issue in the Red Bull camp develops.

Ferrari Blunders With Double Disqualification

Ferrari was issued a double disqualification for technical breaches. Lewis Hamilton was found to have a rear skid block on his Ferrari that measured under the minimum thickness required in the technical regulations post race. Charles Leclerc was also disqualified for his care not meeting the minimum weight requirements post race. Pierre Gasly received the same sanction after his car also did not meet the minimum weight requirements.

Chinese Grand Prix Race Results

In a tense back and forth battle in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix Oscar Piastri found himself poised to claim pole with only his teammate Lando Norris out on a flying lap fast enough to challenge his time. That lap however would not be completed and Piastri retained pole to seemingly deliver McLaren a front row lock out. Unfortunately for McLaren, that effort didn’t stop George Russell from extending one final lap to edge out Norris and claim P2 bumping Norris to P3 for tomorrows race.

The Racing Bulls impressed as the team put both cars in Q3. Yuki Tsunoda will start P9 and Isack Hadjar P7. Lewis Hamilton was not able to repeat his pole sitting effort for the sprint but led the Ferraris locking out the third row in P5/P6 behind Max Verstappen.

Controversy continues in the Red Bull camp as Liam Lawson once again failed to make it to Q3 and was out performed by both Racing Bulls drivers as the driver head in to Sunday’s grand prix. The past has shown that driver who are struggling like Liam Lawson don’t last long if they cant produce on track. Lawson will need to take some risks in the grand prix to make up positions to get back into the points. He will start at the back of the grid in P20.

Full Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Lewis Hamilton has found his mojo in Shanghai after securing his first sprint race win in Ferrari red. Hamilton who started from pole position held the lead the entire race. Hamilton was able to hold of Max Verstappen who was racing behind within a second through out the race. Verstappen fell victim to Piastri who utilized the fight ahead to save his tires and lunge ahead in the closing lap of the race.

“I woke up feeling great today,” said Hamilton as reported by F1.com. “I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the really steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatised within a team, understanding and communication, all sorts of things.

“From Lap 1 here this weekend, really feeling on it. We’ve done a great job – the engineers have done a great job, mechanics have done a great job to really finetune the car and it felt great today. I got a good start and then there’s so much grip on this new tarmac. It’s really hard to look after these tires but I think everyone was struggling the same.”

Ferrari walked away with the biggest points haul with Hamilton winning the race and Charles Leclerc finishing P5.

Shanghai Sprint Race Results

Lewis Hamilton casted all doubts aside today after qualifying on pole for the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race. After a disappointing outing in Australia, Ferrari ahs regrouped and rallied to secure their first pole position of the season. Hamilton edged out Max Verstappen by 0.018s and broke the Shanghai International Circuit record in sprint qualifying. Hamilton was verbally surprised by the outcome on the team radio as he didn’t think the car would be running at the front given the challenges the team has faced thus far this year.

Oscar Piastri finished P3 ahead of Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris, Piastri’s McLaren counterpart settle for an uncharacteristic P6 and will have his work cut out for him come tomorrow. Liam Lawson continues to struggle with his Red Bull which raises questions as to whether the team made the correct call forgoing a promotion of Yuki Tsunoda to the parent team. T make matters worse Tsunoda qualified P8 for the sprint race. Lawson has a short leash already with Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko already giving warnings to the driver.

Oliver Bearman was the top qualifying rookie. During sprint qualifying the F1 rookies outperformed multiple veterans on the grid which should make for some exciting on track action in the sprint and grad prix.

Sprint Race Qualifying Results

Lando Norris secured his first win of the 2025 Formula 1 season in Australia this weekend in a mixed weather race. Norris was able to hold off Max Verstappen who fell short by just under 1 second in the closing stages of the race. Weather and tire strategy playe a major role in the victory. Norris commented, “It’s an incredible start to the year and the team have given me an amazing car from the get-go. Whilst it was a tough race due to the unpredictable conditions and the pressure from Oscar and Max, I felt comfortable and confident out there in the package the team have given us.

It’s been a great weekend. We now need to go to China, do it again, and continue from there. There’s a long season ahead, and we have to keep our heads down and keep pushing.”

“It was a good result for us and an enjoyable but hectic race. The conditions were fairly difficult and slippery but we managed to keep it out of the wall and stay out of trouble, which was the most important thing, so I am happy with that. It was hard for us to pass the McLarens, and we were struggling with the tyres overheating and tyre degradation. I think this is even more evident on intermediates as the compound is even softer than the slicks…

Even if we pitted later we would have been P2 so I am happy with the result. We only have a few days before we are in China so not sure how much we will be able to find and turn around but will work hard to improve. Again, it is the first race of the season and we went for it and learnt a lot, so this is a positive start.”

Australia Delivers Multiple DNFs

Liam Lawson fell victim to his first DNF of the year after gambling with his tires and coming out on the short end with a crash. However, with the changing conditions it was a tough day for all of the F1 rookies. He said, “This whole weekend was pretty terrible. Today we were too slow at the start and then we gambled…On slick tires it was quite competitive for that couple of laps but then it started raining again. We took a chance staying out on the medium and hoping half the track would stay dry. We knew that sector three was bad but we thought sector one would stay a little bit drier, so we risked it but it was bucketing down with rain.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alsonso and Jack Doohan all crashed out of the race.

Isack Hadjar crashed on the formation lap and thus was deemed a did not start competitor.

Australian Grand Prix Results

The pre season chatter regarding an improved platform from McLaren in 2025 has finally stood the ultimate test. McLaren and Lando Norris have secured pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. In a very narrow finish in P2 came Oscar Piastri who was less than a tenth behind. Vertsappen’s margin to the front was almost 4 tenths suggesting a major difference in eprformance between the two manufacturers. Liam Lawson failed to perform in his full season Red Bull debut finishing in an embrassing P18. To make matters worse, Yuki Tsunoda qualified P5 well ahead of Lawson. The pace disparity may have Red Bull questioning if they made the right choice in second driver.

Mercedes’ George Russell finish 4th place after running at the front during Q1 and Q2 briefly. Of note Williams secured a double top 10 finish with Albon coming in P6 and Sainz in P10. Ferrari lagged behind with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton nver makign a real challenge for pole position.

Qualifying Results

McLaren emerged as the dominant constructor on day one in Melbourne as the Formula 1 season kicks off with its opening round. Early estimates put the McLarens at the front based on qualifying simulations. Ferrari is currently showing second fastest average laps while Mercedes and Red Bull are in a closer battle for third. Granted these simulations are based on the teams running simulation programs in practice and don’t represent actual race data but its clear McLaren are the leaders. In addition to the early estimates by F1.com McLaren also led the field in the sped trap suggesting they have the best straight line speed in addition to overall pace.

“A decent first day back in the car,” said Lando Norris. “Good feelings, all in all. We’re struggling a lot with the balance, so we need to make a few changes to get it into a better place, but a good start to the weekend for us as a team. A good baseline, but a lot to improve on.” 

Oscar Piastri also commented on the day, “It was a productive first day back for us, and it was pretty encouraging. We’ve still got some things to work on, but the pace was there. We’ve tried a few different things and gathered some good information, the car feels different to last year but that’s pretty normal. I am excited to see what we can do tomorrow – it’s been a pretty positive first day.”

WIlliams Surprises With Early Pace

Despite striggles to return to its former glory in Formula 1. WIlliam’s Racing has shown some signs of promise thus far this year. With a new driver line up Williams is determined to get Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz moving on the quest to obtain points this weekend.

FP2 Results

FP1 Results