Jacques Villeneuve lauds ‘incredible’ F1 driver as his biggest surprise of Bahrain qualifying after Lando Norris ‘messed up’

After the disappointment of last weekend’s race in Suzuka, the Bahrain Grand Prix is set up to be a thrilling event after Saturday’s qualifying session.

Oscar Piastri will start from pole position for the second time in his Formula 1 career after taking full advantage of his rapid McLaren.

His teammate Lando Norris wasn’t so fortunate and will start Sunday’s race from P6 after struggling throughout the weekend.

Norris called qualifying ‘disappointing’ and explained in his post-session media session: “The car’s been amazing, so thank you to the team for their hard work.

“I’ve just been struggling at times to put together the laps that counted, and this has cost me some positions in Qualifying today.”

Mercedes appeared to have a brilliant session, with George Russell setting the second-fastest time in Q3 and Andrea Kimi Antonelli recording his best qualifying performance in F1.

However, both drivers were demoted a place after Mercedes sent them into the pit lane too early following Esteban Ocon’s crash.

That meant Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was promoted to P4 and will hope from that position he can score the team’s first points of the season.

Jack Doohan starts in 11th, and could relieve some of the pressure on his seat with his first top 10 finish in Formula 1.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Jacques Villeneuve hails Pierre Gasly after ‘super impressive’ Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was working as a pundit for the Bahrain Grand Prix as a pundit for Canal+.

Villeneuve was reviewing the session on Instagram and explained: “Well, not the qualifying we were expecting! Obviously, Piastri’s been quick all weekend; he did a great job, but Norris is not next to him!

“He messed up, maybe feeling the pressure a little bit, surprising Mercedes, impressive with second and fourth.

“Antonelli fourth, Leclerc third, that’s quite good, but Gasly was the surprise of the day, an incredible lap.

“He’s been quick, but that was like three-thousandths of a second away from Antonelli in his Alpine, super impressive.

THAT TASTES LIKE PROMOTION 🙌😄😄

Pierre starts tomorrow’s Grand Prix P4 pic.twitter.com/6mgAknLKtu

— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) April 12, 2025

“Then, the two championship leaders, they’re sixth and seventh, that should promise for a good battle because they will have to fight each other for the championship, there’s one point separating them, and then they also need to get up through the field.

“And Sainz, finally getting the hang of his car, well, he was testing here so he knows what to expect. He was driving super well, now, hopefully his tyres will survive in the heat.”

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‘Special’ Pierre Gasly admits struggling before Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying heroics

Gasly previously qualified on the back row of the grid the last time he raced in Bahrain, highlighting the progress Alpine have made over the past 12 months.

Asked about qualifying during his media session, the Frenchman admitted: “That was a very good qualifying and we definitely needed that.

“I’m very happy for the entire team with that result and performance. I must say, I was struggling a little bit at the start of the session.

“I was not feeling that comfortable in Q1 with low grip and a lot of sliding. We managed to unlock the potential from the tyres from Q2 onwards and really extracted more and more from them as the session went on.

“In the end, Q3, and that last lap, when I crossed the line, I knew it was a special one.”

Carlos Sainz admitted Gasly’s Renault engine was harming his potential, but he didn’t let that stop him during qualifying.

His Alpine was as fast as McLaren’s car during many of the corners on Gasly’s final lap, but his engine deficit potentially cost him a remarkable front-row start.

Gasly’s teammate Doohan is impressing Alpine staff, and while there’s still a deficit between both drivers, a quicker A525 gives the Australian a better chance of winning over the notoriously difficult to impress Flavio Briatore.