The Bahrain Grand Prix is officially in the books — and while it wasn’t the most action-packed race from start to finish, it definitely delivered on the technical chaos.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) took first place for the second time this season. George Russell (Mercedes) was in second place, even after his car had a lot of issues. This also marked his fourth race this season where he finished within the top five. Even after qualifying sixth, Lando Norris (McLaren) finished third.
As for tech glitches, there were a lot. Several drivers had issues with their DRS (drag reduction systems), including Russell, who was under investigation for opening his DRS when it wasn’t allowed at one point. At another point, Russell’s on-screen position randomly dropped to P20. There was no rec crash and no explanation.
A possible explanation for this glitch could be issues with the F1 graphics. For a few laps, all race graphics disappeared except for the lap counter. Fans had to rely completely on the commentators’ audio to figure out what was going on.
On the mobile app, there is a new side-panel of stats that shows time gaps. While this addition is cool in theory, it only showed the stats for the top ten and the rookies. Since the rest of the graphics disappeared, it was a little annoying to fans. Fans have not been happy with the graphics overall this year, and many did not hesitate to call them out on social media.
Despite the technical chaos, the actual racing was quite clean. There were minimal penalties, aside from a few track limits warnings. Both Williams cars were driving in the points at one point, which was heartwarming to see. However, Carlos Sainz (Williams) ended up not finishing the race after he sustained damage to his car fighting Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull). On the bright side, Tsunoda also scored his first points for Red Bull on Sunday!
Overall, a great fourth race of the season. With him being the only multiple race winner so far, many believe that Piastri has what it takes to become the champion in 2025. On to Jeddah!