Piastri dominates in milestone Bahrain triumph

Oscar Piastri delivered a desert masterclass in Bahrain, crushing the field to claim a milestone victory in his 50th Grand Prix, securing McLaren’s first-ever win at their ‘second home’ and completing a rare hat-trick to move within two points of the championship lead.

Approaching sunset in Sakhir, all 20 drivers locked in on the five lights—thundering into action as the Bahrain Grand Prix roared to life.

It seemed to be a dream start for both McLaren drivers, with Piastri charging clear of the battles behind while his teammate, starting from sixth on the grid, made up three places through the first sequence of corners.

Spoiling the Bahraini-backed team’s party, Lando Norris soon received a penalty for being out of position on the starting grid, serving it during his first pitstop of the evening. 

As for their neighbouring competitors, the run down to Turn 1 saw George Russell reinstating himself into the top two after he lost his front-row grid box due to a post-qualifying penalty, demoting Charles Leclerc as he swept through the first lap.

Not as fortunate off the line was Max Verstappen, with his poor launch foreshadowing an equally disappointing evening in Bahrain, allowing the slower Williams to get the jump on him.

As the scrambled race began to unfold, Norris was instantly given the hurry-up and told to make quick work of the Mercedes ahead to protect himself from the added five seconds of race time, however, he was unable to close the margin by the time the McLaren pit wall elected to make its first stop on Lap 10.

As a result, the Brit rejoined in P14—a more favourable position compared to the Red Bull duo who both fell victim to an internal exit light malfunction which saw Verstappen and Tsunoda both held up in their pit box for over six seconds. 

Russell followed suit, pulling into the pitlane a few laps earlier than the race leader, while Ferrari—the only top-ten team to start on the medium compound—opted to extend their first stint, with Leclerc practically begging his engineers to consider a one-stop strategy under the codeword “delta”.

With his pleas denied, Ferrari completed a smooth double-stack, reinstating Piastri into the race lead. 

Leclerc clawed his way back to the rear of Norris, and with his tyres being seven laps younger, he soon found himself touring the Bahrain International Circuit with DRS assistance.

Like poetry, the #16 and #44 completed synchronised overtakes on Norris and Kimi Antonelli, respectively, separated by just four corners as the teammates edged closer to their largest points haul of the season.

The second round of pitstops kicked off as the race approached half-distance, with Verstappen the first bow into the pits, however, regrettably so when he suffered yet another slow stop, this time due to a delayed transition on his right wheel.

Antonelli was the only driver to react, moving to the soft compound tyre before the entire race was neutralised, with the Safety Car gracing the circuit for a short period of time while debris from an incident between Tsunoda and Sainz had to be cleared from the racing line at Turns 1 and 2.

Their altercation wasn’t the only one that involved the Williams race car racking up damage in Bahrain, with Sainz’s aggressive approach seeing a huge hole later being ripped in his sidepod, forcing Sainz to retire.

The Safety Car played perfectly into Piastri’s hands, allowing the race leader to hold onto P1 when he rejoined the 57-lap race, with Russell, Leclerc, Norris and Hamilton rounding out the top five.

At the restart, Russell admitted that he thought about making a move on the Australian, however, as Piastri launched from Turn 14, the DRS advantage was short-lived for the Mercedes driver.

Instead, it was the #81’s teammate who found himself engaged in a three-way battle for the final podium position, sandwiched between the Ferrari duo.

Norris had his sights firmly on moving ahead of Leclerc, however, he was forced to shift his focus when Hamilton got the jump, with Norris defending and regaining his position beyond track limits at Turn 4.

The moment prompted the McLaren pit wall to inform its driver to hand the position back to the Ferrari, but it was only temporary when the #4 legally completed the overtake for P4 on the following lap.

With 15 laps standing between the field and the chequered flag, Norris was within striking distance of Leclerc, growing impatient as he launched down the outside of the opening turn, locking up and losing vital time.

Three laps later, he forged up the confidence to try again, this time into Turn 4, however, it reaped a similar result to his earlier defensive efforts when he found himself over the white line.

Persistence paid off and P3 was finally Norris’ after he learnt from his mistake, clearing Leclerc at the same corner as the Ferrari driver battled a strong snap on the kerbs. 

In the final few laps, the top five had settled into its finishing order, however, it was a close call for Russell who suffered a brake-by-wire failure in the closing stages—an issue that also impacted his dash and DRS function, with the latter causing the Brit to be under post-race investigation for a DRS infringement. 

As a result, both Norris and Leclerc made it their final mission to be within five seconds of the #63 as they took the chequered flag in Bahrain.

Not having to worry about intervals, or anteing for that matter, was Oscar Piastri who crossed the finish line 15.5 seconds clear of any threat, becoming the first repeat race winner of the season in his milestone 50th race.

Winning McLaren’s ‘second’ home race—something the papaya outfit has never managed to do—in a commanding style, the Australian also became the 49th driver to score a hat-trick of Pole Position, fastest lap and the race victory, never showing any signs of weakness as he worked his way to the top step.

The Australian now sits second in the Drivers’ Championship, just two points behind his teammate ahead of the final round of the triple header in Saudi Arabia. 

As for his compatriot, Jack Doohan spent a large portion of his Bahrain Grand Prix fighting for the final points positions, always looking ready to pounce on the high-stakes battles that unfolded ahead of him.

His race came undone on his final hard tyre stint, however, with the Australian losing five places within a painfully short time frame, dropping him to P16 before Liam Lawson’s misfortune promoted him one position higher.

Receiving two separate penalties for causing two separate collisions, Lawson’s minor improvements across the race went to waste.

The Kiwi collided with his long-term Bahrain rival Lance Stroll, spraying debris as he attempted to pass the Aston Martin at Turn 2, before later nudging Nico Hulkenberg aside at the first turn.

As a result, the RB driver ended his second race back with the team where he started, rounding out a points-less weekend for Racing Bulls in Bahrain.

The Faenza-based squad, and indeed the rest of the field will have the chance to go again in seven days’ time, however, with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix running across April 18-20.

Image: McLaren

Bahrain Grand Prix Race Results:

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