Oscar Piastri claimed his second victory of the 2025 Formula One season with a commanding efficiency on the Bahrain Grand Prix, main from lights out to the checkered flag.
Starting from pole, the McLaren driver by no means relinquished management, even after a security automotive on Lap 32 worn out his seven-second cushion over George Russell.
Piastri stored his cool, fended off the Mercedes problem on the restart and stormed away to seal the win.
“It’s been an incredible weekend,” he mentioned. “To finish the job in style today was really special. I can’t thank the team enough for the car they gave me.”
“I would have preferred not to have the safety car, but I was still pretty confident. It was relatively straightforward. I was never going to let that one go,” he added.
Russell completed second to assert his third podium in 4 races this yr, although he’s below investigation for a possible DRS infringement.
“Oscar was in a league of his own, so congratulations to him and McLaren. But for ourselves, four races, three podiums at different kinds of tracks is pretty good,” Russell mentioned.
Lando Norris, within the different McLaren, took third regardless of intense stress on Russell for second place.
Norris retained his championship lead and is now three factors away from teammate Piastri within the standings, whereas Max Verstappen dropped to 3rd.
Four-time defending champion Verstappen, who received the Japanese Grand Prix final weekend, completed sixth in Bahrain. The Red Bull driver struggled all through the weekend.
Piastri held his lead regardless of stress from Russell, who had overtaken the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for second. Norris, in the meantime, had a blistering begin, leaping from sixth to 3rd and pushing Leclerc to fourth.
However, Norris was discovered to be out of place on the grid and was handed a five-second penalty, which he served throughout his pit cease. After the primary spherical of stops, Piastri continued to guide forward of Russell, with Norris in third.
But Norris didn’t keep in third for lengthy, as Leclerc handed him on Lap 25.
At the entrance, Piastri had constructed a seven-second lead when the security automotive was deployed on Lap 32 because of particles left on the monitor after the Williams of Carlos Sainz made contact with the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.
After the restart, Piastri retained the lead. Norris was briefly overtaken by Lewis Hamilton whereas trying to assault Leclerc however reclaimed fourth place. However, McLaren instructed him to provide the place again, because the transfer was accomplished off monitor.
Norris finally overtook Hamilton cleanly and later handed Leclerc after a fierce battle. He then started chasing Russell, who was coping with automotive points.
“It felt all under control, and then suddenly we had a brake-by-wire failure, so the brake pedal was going long, it was going short,” Russell mentioned. “One more lap and Lando would have got me.”
But time ran out, and Norris needed to accept third.
“A tough race. I made too many mistakes with the overtakes and was out of position. A messy race from me, and I’m disappointed not to bring home a one-two for McLaren,” Norris mentioned.
Leclerc completed fourth, adopted by teammate Hamilton. Pierre Gasly misplaced out to Verstappen on the ultimate lap and positioned seventh, however secured Alpine’s first factors of the season.
Esteban Ocon of Haas was eighth, whereas Tsunoda and Oliver Bearman, additionally of Haas, accomplished the highest 10.
Next up is the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix on April 20, wrapping up this month’s tripleheader.
Source: www.dailysabah.com