McLaren's Piastri storms to Bahrain Grand Prix victory
MANAMA, 2 days ago
McLaren's Oscar Piastri has become the first multiple race winner of the 2025 season by taking a sublime victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Australian driver putting in a cool and collected drive to seal P1 on his 50th start in F1 as well as marking McLaren’s first triumph in Sakhir.
After making a strong start from pole position – despite a close call from George Russell when the Mercedes driver locked up into Turn 1 – Piastri built a solid lead throughout the laps that followed.
While there was early trouble for team mate Lando Norris – who was hit with a five-second time penalty for being out of position in his grid box – the McLarens again looked impressive as the race played out, with the Briton working his way forwards.
And while Piastri’s position potentially looked under threat when a Safety Car emerged, the 24-year-old made a clean getaway at the restart and went on to rebuild a gap in the laps that followed, eventually crossing the line with a 15-second lead.
Russell ultimately took second, holding off a thrilling late chase from Norris, though the Silver Arrows driver will be investigated after the Grand Prix for a potential DRS infringement. Norris was just 0.774s behind Russell at the finish, a good recovery from the McLaren racer after a difficult Qualifying on Saturday.
Charles Leclerc had to settle for fourth – despite putting up a good fight against Norris during a scrap for third in the latter stages – ahead of Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton in fifth, while Max Verstappen snatched sixth place in the final moments on what had been a tough evening for the Red Bull man, having experienced issues at both of his pit stops.
Pierre Gasly scored Alpine’s first points of the campaign in seventh while Esteban Ocon followed in eighth, the Haas racer’s strategy of an early pit stop seemingly paying off. Yuki Tsunoda took ninth for Red Bull, with Ollie Bearman adding to Haas’ tally in 10th.
