
“I knew after my last corner [in Q3] this lap would put me in a very good place,” Pierre Gasly told media after qualifying for Formula 1's 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix. “But nowhere near close thinking it would put us like four hundredths off the top three and only three tenths off pole position.”
Gasly qualified fifth, which became fourth after Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli was demoted for a pitlane procedural breach, while rookie team-mate Jack Doohan narrowly missed the cut for Q3. It was a stark contrast from events of the 2024 Bahrain GP, the season opener: technical director Matt Harman and aero chief Dirk de Beer were already preparing to clear their desks when Gasly and Esteban Ocon, his team-mate at the time, qualified on the back row.