2025 Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir - F1 Fantasy Race Preview, Strategy and Analysis

Euan Leith's preview of the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix for F1 Fantasy includes weather updates, differentials for your squads, and predictions for qualifying and the Grand Prix.

Happy Bahrain Grand Prix, RotoBallers! It's the second race of our first triple-header in 2025, and the action is heating up. There are a lot of price changes coming this weekend, and F1 Fantasy managers need to be ready to catch the budget-rising assets and get them in their lineups. The Japanese GP was a snoozefest but brought us reliable F1 Fantasy points. Bahrain should get more action on the track, and all the drivers have plenty of experience at this venue because it's where preseason testing happens.

The deadline for the Bahrain Grand Prix in F1 Fantasy is Saturday, April 12, at noon EDT, when Qualifying starts. Also, check out the rest of our excellent DFS racing coverage to get you through every NASCAR and Formula 1 race. Also, if you need a refresher on the rules of F1 Fantasy, check out our How to Play guide from the preseason.

Want to build a winning fantasy F1 lineup? Check out our How To Play F1 Fantasy (Formula 1): Overview Guide, Tips, Chips, and Rules for all the essential tips and strategies to get you started on the right foot.

Join our 2025 F1 Fantasy League

That's right! We are putting our reputations on the line and creating an F1 Fantasy League for the 2025 season. If you go to the Leagues tab on the F1 Fantasy home page, you'll find our league in the Featured Leagues tab. Just click Join League, and you will be in for 2025.

We've also got this shiny banner to stand out! Use code P1JOTPHDW09 to join the 2025 league!

Previous Bahrain Grand Prix Winners

• 2024: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• 2023: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• 2022: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
• 2021: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
• 2020: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Bahrain Grand Prix Schedule

Friday, April 11

• Practice 1: 7:30 a.m. EDT
• Practice 2: 11:00 a.m. EDT

Saturday, April 12

• Practice 3: 8:30 a.m. EDT
• Qualifying: 12:00 p.m. EDT (***F1 Fantasy lineup lock***)

Sunday, April 13

• Race: 11:00 a.m. EDT

Bahrain Grand Prix Weather

Australia gave us a downpour, China threatened some showers, and now it's looking like another weather-y weekend in F1 Fantasy. As of this writing, F1 Fantasy managers should prepare for some wet-weather chaos.

Bahrain Grand Prix Predictions

Qualifying

1. Lando Norris, McLaren
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

Grand Prix

1. Lando Norris, McLaren
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. George Russell, Mercedes

Let The Drivers Hit the (Pricing) Floor

We learned something new after the Japanese Grand Prix regarding Driver prices.

💰How Low Can You Go?

🏎️Well in #F1Fantasy we now know it’s $4.5m.

🎯Hadjar and Bortoleto becomes great targets for Bahrain next weekend. pic.twitter.com/2P9ibRRpiz

— Euan Leith (@F1FantasyEuan) April 6, 2025

This puts Gabriel Bortoleto ($4.5m) and Isack Hadjar ($4.5m) high on the priority list for Bahrain transfers. Forget that they can't cost F1 Fantasy managers any budget, but Hadjar is in excellent form. The Racing Bulls rookie scored 19 points across China and Japan and is set for his first price rise in Bahrain.

The French driver needs negative two points (-2) to score a maximum price rise in F1 Fantasy. His excellent scores in the previous two Asian races give him a sturdy floor to rise over the next two to three races.

Targeting the Template

After a couple of races of building a budget, F1 Fantasy managers can begin to target a points-scoring lineup. To build a lineup of McLaren ($30.9m), Mercedes ($23.6m), Oscar Piastri ($23.6m), Esteban Ocon ($8.7m), Ollie Bearman ($7.3m), Jack Doohan ($5.4m), and Isack Hadjar, you'll need at least $103.5 million in your cost cap.

Strategists who can't reach that lineup have plenty of alternatives to the two big constructor builds. They can downgrade Oscar Piastri to George Russell ($21.7m) or Kimi Antonelli ($19.6m). Both Mercedes drivers are expected to rise in value this weekend, but they don't have the upside of their McLaren rivals.

You can also downgrade Jack Doohan ($5.4m) to Gabriel Bortoleto for another $0.9m in savings. The Brazilian race is unlikely to reach the threshold (12 points) for a maximum price rise, but, like Isack Hadjar, he can't go any lower and cost you any budget.

Expect to see this lineup A LOT ahead of the Bahrain GP.

F1 Fantasy Chip Strategy

With many price fluctuations in the game, there is no need to activate a points-scoring chip this weekend. The dry conditions also eliminate the need for the No Negative chip.

The one chip I see F1 Fantasy managers using is the Wildcard. If you will use two extra transfers and cost yourself 20 points, I like the idea of using the Wildcard and making all your transfers for free, especially as we attempt to chase down the budget-rising drivers.

F1 Fantasy Drivers to Target and Avoid

Drivers to Target (A Tier, >$19.0m)

• Oscar Piastri, McLaren
• George Russell, Mercedes
• Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Drivers to Avoid (A Tier, >$19.0m)

• Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
• Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Drivers to Target (B Tier, <$19.0m)

• Esteban Ocon, Haas
• Ollie Bearman, Haas
• Jack Doohan, Alpine
• Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
• Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber

Drivers to Avoid (B Tier, <$19.0m)

• Alex Albon, Williams
• Carlos Sainz, Williams
• Pierre Gasly, Alpine
• Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
• Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
• Nico Hulkenberg, Kick Sauber
• Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

☢️Toxic Assets in F1 Fantasy for the Bahrain GP☢️

Barring massive performances this weekend, the following drivers and constructors are set to fall in price for #F1Fantasy at the #BahrainGP

🅰️Tier Assets
- Charles Leclerc
- Lewis Hamilton

I considered including Norris and…

— Euan Leith (@F1FantasyEuan) April 10, 2025

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