A wild round of qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix has Oscar Piastri sitting in the pole position and in a great position to make up some ground in the F1 Drivers' Standings.
That's because McLaren teammate and points leader Lando Norris could only manage a sixth-place finish, just ahead of last week's winner in Japan, Max Verstappen.
Second in the standings, if Verstappen wants to claim his third straight in Bahrain, he'll have to do it from the seventh spot.
George Russell and his Mercedes came oh-so-close to claiming his first pole of the season. He'll start second, with Ferrari's Charles LeClerc in third.
Continue reading for free Formula One predictions and free picks for the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 13.
2025 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix prediction and picks
- Race Prediction: Piastri to win outright (-300 at bet365)
- Best bet: Norris Fastest lap (+175 at bet365)
2025 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix odds
| Driver |  |
|---|---|
 Oscar Piastri |
-300 |
| Lando Norris |
-300 |
 George Russell
|
+1000 |
 Charles Leclerc |
+1100 |
 Max Verstappen |
+2500 |
| Kimi Antonelli |
+3300 |
| Lewis Hamilton |
+1000 |
 Pierre Gasly |
+1000 |
 Carlos Sainz |
+2000 |
| Yuki Tsunoda |
+2000 |
 Isack Hadjar |
+5000 |
| Jack Doohan |
+5000 |
 Esteban Ocon |
+100000 |
| Fernando Alonso |
+100000 |
| Alex Albon |
+150000 |
| Liam Lawson |
+200000 |
 Nico Hulkenberg |
+250000 |
| Oliver Bearman |
+300000 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto |
+300000 |
 Lance Stroll |
+300000 |
Odds as of 4-12.
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2025 pre-qualifying favorites
Repeat winners are far from uncommon at the Bahrain GP. Last year, Max Verstappen joined Fernando Alonso (2005-06), Felipe Massa (2007-08), Sebastian Vettel (2012-13), and Lewis Hamilton (2014-15, 2019-21) as drivers to win at least two straight races here since this event was inaugurated in 2004. Yet Verstappen (+350) is merely the third choice with Lando Norris (+120) and Oscar Piastri (+200) preferred by early bettors.
George Russell (+1400) of Mercedes is a distant fourth-choice, with the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (+2200 each) still trying to figure things out as co-fifth choices.
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2025 post-qualifying picks
Race prediction: Piastri to Win (-300 at bet365)
If there was a track to take advantage of your opponents' poor start, it's at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Over the last five years, the pole sitter has claimed four checkered flags. Only Lewis Hamilton (then with Mercedes) in 2021 managed to win the race away from Red Bull's Verstappen, who was on the pole.
Piastri's time of 1:29.841 under the night lights cleared Russell by +0.168 and LeClerc by +0.334. Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli will start on the second row.
Piastri will try to become the first multiple F1 winner in 2025, after he captured the pole and the race in China on March 23.
He'll also be the one tasked with trying to break McLaren's all-time winless streak at the desert venue.
With Norris needing to work his way from the middle of the back, Piastri should be able to maneuver McLaren to victory in Bahrain.
Best bet: Norris Fastest lap (+175 at bet365)
This wager is more about the McLaren's being the best cars on the track.
And even though Norris didn't put together his best lap in Bahrain at the most important time, he's proven his driving on race day all season.
It took some exceptional driving in Q3 to drop him down to a season-low sixth place start.
But Norris and car have arguably been the fastest in F1 in 2025.
Norris owns the fastest lap in Australia, while holding the second-fastest in both China and Japan.
No other driver has been Top 2 in fastest lap in every race this season.
The books don't find it a long shot, as he shares the best odds with his McLaren teammate.
I don't know if he can make up the difference Sunday, but Norris will be driving a fast car in Bahrain.
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2025 starting grid
| Position | Driver | Position | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | 11 | Jack Doohan |
| 2 | George Russell | 12 | Isack Hadjar |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | 13 | Fernando Alonso |
| 4 | Kimi Antonelli | 14 | Esteban Ocon |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | 15 | Alexander Albon |
| 6 | Lando Norris | 16 | Nico Hulkenberg |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | 17 | Liam Lawson |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | 18 | Gabriel Bortoleto |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | 19 | Lance Stroll |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | 20 | Oliver Bearman |
Previous F1 Bahrain Grand Prix winners
| Year | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| 2023 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| 2022 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 2021 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
| 2020 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
| 2019 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
Understanding F1 betting odds
The most popular way to bet on Formula 1 odds is by simply picking the winner of a particular race. Other popular F1 betting options include which car/constructor will win and whether or not a particular race car driver will end up on the podium with a Top-3 finish.
F1 race odds usually look like this:
- Charles Leclerc +400
This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to profit $400 if Leclerc wins that particular race. If one driver is especially dominant, you might see a minus sign (-) ahead of that driver's odds like this:
- Max Verstappen -120
This means that you would need to bet $120 to win $100 on Verstappen winning the race.
