Max in mood to kick up a sandstorm in Bahrain desert

MCLAREN'S Lando Norris holds a wafer-thin advantage over four-time world champion Max Verstappen going into this Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

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Here, AFP Sport looks at five storylines ahead of the fourth race of 24 in the 2025 Formula One season...

Momentum with Max?

Max Verstappen arrives in Bahrain fresh from one of the best weekends of his life, on the track at least, in Japan.

After a sublime pole last Saturday in Suzuka he held the McLarens at bay with a controlled drive to haul a Red Bull car that has yet to reach its full potential over the line to move one point behind Lando Norris in the world championship.

He has won on the last two trips to Sakhir, with Red Bull posting a one-two in both races.

While that may be a tall order, with Yuki Tsunoda facing a steep learning curve in this only his second run out for Red Bull since dramatically replacing Liam Lawson, Verstappen is in the mood to kick up a sandstorm in the Bahrain desert. He conceded he would still need to “push the car to the limit’, but is approaching the weekend with a spring in his step.

“Bahrain is typically somewhere where we have gone well,” he said this week.