Flawless victory for Oscar Piastri in Bahrain Grand Prix
Oscar Piastri equalled Bruce McLaren's record as he took his fourth victory in Formula One at Bahrain.
SAKHIR–Oscar Piastri took his second race victory of the 2025 Formula One season with a flawless drive from pole position.
The Australian became the first multiple race winner of the year after a impressive qualifying lap put him at the front of the grid for Sunday's race, before building a solid lead in the race despite a late safety car to take the chequered flag by more than 15 seconds.
"Great to have this result out here," said the McLaren driver.
"It's been an incredible weekend, starting off with qualifying yesterday and, yeah, to finish the job today in style was nice.
"So, yeah, can't thank the team enough for the car they've given us. It's pretty handy out there. It's been a great weekend and, yeah, very proud of what I've done this weekend as well.
"Very proud to do it here in Bahrain as well. It's obviously a very important race for us, given our owners, and it's never been a track that's been kind to us.
"So, it's nice to finally have that first win for the team."
It was a maiden victory for McLaren in what is the team's second home race, based in the United Kingdom and owned by Mumtalakat, the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain.
George Rusell had an impressive drive for Mercedes to finish second, holding off a late chase from Piastri's teammate Lando Norris, who completed the podium.
Norris also had a positive race after struggling during qualifying, making his way through the field after starting sixth and being handed an early penalty for starting out of his grid box.
Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari after a resolute battle with Norris in the later stages of the race, finishing ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in fifth, while Max Verstappen passed Pierre Gasly in the final moments of the race to consolidate sixth.
Pierre Gasly took Alpine's first points of the season in seventh on a much-improved weekend for the team, while Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, and Ollie Bearman completed the podium.
The race had promised to be a strategy battle throughout, with five drivers opting for the medium compound tyre at the start and two stops expected throughout the race, but a late safety car saw most drivers dive into the pits and brought the field level on strategy for the final sprint to the flag.
"All three compounds chosen for this round, which were actually the same as those last week in Suzuka, were brought into play, creating a mix of strategies that made the race even more interesting," said Pirelli's Mario Isola.
"The level of degradation, despite slightly cooler temperatures than yesterday and Friday, was still significant across all three compounds, meaning that a two-stop was the only real choice.
"The performance differences between the [compounds] were clear to see in absolute terms and were also dependent on which cars were using them at different stages, which made the race even more dynamic, especially when one considers how evenly matched the teams are at the moment."
That competitiveness of the opening stages was ultimately compromised by the similar pace between the teams, which meant a slightly processional final third of the race punctuated by Norris and Verstappen's moves through the field.
George Russell had an issued with his transponder and had to manage the issue through the race, including manually activating his DRS, which at one stage left him under investigation by the stewards, for which he was later cleared.
For Piastri, his 50th grand prix rewarded him with his fourth Formula 1 victory, equalling the record of team founder Bruce McLaren.
"I would have preferred to not have [the safety car], yes, but I was still pretty confident," said the Australian.
"I think the pace was good. I was pretty confident I could get a good restart. I also knew that Lando and I were the only ones with another medium, and that was the tyre to be on, so from that side of things, it was relatively straightforward. Obviously, you try and get a good restart—you never quite know how it's going to go—but no, I was never going to let that one go.
But for the McLaren driver, there will be limited celebrations, with the F1 field on-track at Jeddah next weekend for the Saudi Arabian grand prix.
"I've got to race again next week!" said Piastri.
"But no, it's been a great weekend for everybody, and yeah it's a great, great place to do it. So, I'm sure everybody will enjoy it, and as they should."
Lando Norris remains in the lead of the championship standings ahead of Saudi Arabia, on 77 points. Piastri has jumped to second on 74 points, with Max Verstappen and George Russell close behind on 69 and 63 points respectively.
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