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Oscar Piastri will become Australia's first Formula 1 championship leader in 15 years if the McLaren racer wins for the third time this season in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. The 24-year-old, one of four drivers who could end the weekend on top after a tiring 'triple header' run of races on three successive weekends, is the only repeat winner so far in 2025.

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World champion Max Verstappen killed the idea that McLaren might absolutely dominate the Formula 1 season with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix at the weekend, but the Dutchman was by no means certain he would be able to repeat the feat elsewhere.

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Lewis Hamilton sounded more positive about his learning curve at Ferrari after reporting a "night and day" difference in his car's handling in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix compared to Saturday's qualifying. The seven-time world champion had struck a despondent note after qualifying only ninth with teammate Charles Leclerc promoted to the front row of the grid after Mercedes' George Russell was demoted.

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Ferrari's anticipated title challenge again failed to materialise at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc finishing in fourth place and Lewis Hamilton in seventh, and both drivers complaining about the performance of the car.

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Oscar Piastri delivered a commanding performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix, leading from pole to the chequered flag to claim his second win of the 2025 Formula One season. The McLaren driver became the first repeat winner this year and slashed the championship gap to teammate Lando Norris to just three points after four races.

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Yuki Tsunoda will be centre of attention at his home Japanese Grand Prix this weekend after joining Max Verstappen at a Red Bull team desperate to reel in McLaren following their ominous start to the season. Tsunoda was already a hero at Suzuka but his sudden promotion at the expense of Liam Lawson puts him under a whole new level of scrutiny as partner to the four-time world champion Verstappen.

Red Bull axed Lawson last week after the New Zealander's disastrous start to his debut season, which saw him fail to score any points in the first two race weekends. The 24-year-old Tsunoda steps up from sister team RB, with Lawson moving the other way to the team he drove for last season. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has told the Japanese driver to get as "close as possible" to Verstappen, said Tsunoda, whose highest finish at a race is fourth in 2021 at Abu Dhabi for RB, then called AlphaTauri. "In the end Red Bull Racing are focused on Max scoring a drivers' championship," Tsunoda told the BBC. "He also promised me, in some situations, that if I'm able to be in front of Max that he wouldn't necessarily ask me to swap positions and make Max win."

Tsunoda said he will be happy if he can finish in the top 10 and score points on his Red Bull debut. Now in his fifth Formula 1 season, he has shown pace this season. He was 12th in the season-opener at Melbourne then picked up three points for coming sixth in the Shanghai Saturday sprint. He only finished out of the points in the China main race because of RB's flawed two-stop pit strategy.

Red Bull's cars will have a special white livery at Suzuka in tribute to their partner Honda's maiden victory in Formula 1 in Mexico in 1965. Verstappen is second in the drivers' standings but Horner needs his ruthless driver change to kick-start Red Bull's constructors' championship campaign after ceding early ground to McLaren.

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Ferrari are seeking an uptick in their fortunes at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend after a lacklustre start to the season. Lewis Hamilton's sprint win from pole in China apart, the Scuderia have yet to make much of an impact - Charles Leclerc's fourth in Japan last weekend their best result.

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Max Verstappen has hinted at a future relationship with Honda after the Japanese engine maker's highly successful partnership with Red Bull finishes at the end of the Formula 1 season. Honda engines have fired the 27-year-old Dutchman to four successive world titles with Red Bull but from 2026 they will be powering the cars of the Aston Martin team.