After a race filled with action, from wheel-to-wheel fights to pit-stop chaos and stewards’ actions at almost every lap, Oscar Piastri realised an outstanding race under the Bahrain lights to secure his second consecutive win and McLaren’s first-ever Bahrain Grand Prix victory.
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As chaos erupted behind him, the Aussie driver had the perfect start and led the pack smoothly into Turn 1. Starting on softs, George Russell overtook Charles Leclerc before locking up and almost crashing into Piastri’s McLaren at the apex. Lando Norris then took advantage of the Ferrari during the opening-lap chaos. The McLaren teammates had an amazing escape, but Norris’s day got worse when he got a five-second penalty due to a jump start, caused by starting outside of his grid box.
Even after this setback, Norris had pace in control. He and Russell fought for the second position while Piastri went away in front, Leclerc tried to hold on in fourth place, while Gasly somehow kept his fifth place.
From the early moments of the race, drivers like Verstappen, Bearman, and Antonelli were losing positions. Bearman very unusually completely dominated the first lap, by overtaking five cars. Verstappen’s race, on the other side, started to fall off on Lap 10 as he lost a few positions due to a late pitstop and an issue with Red Bull’s pit light system.
After some drivers decided to pit early on, Leclerc and Hamilton were at the front, Ferrari’s strategy being to start the race with medium compounds. But Piastri regained the lead right after he pitted. Leclerc led the pack on fresher tyres behind Piastri-Russell-Norris, who was back at the front by Lap 25.
A collision between Tsunoda and Sainz, causing debris on the track, provoked a Safety Car, which changed completely the course of the race. Everyone then got a “free” pit stop and Piastri’s seven-second lead went away.
Right after the restart the action broke out again. Russell, who was on softs, tried to challenge Piastri but was unable to stay in DRS range. Norris overtook Hamilton and then targeted Leclerc’s Ferrari. Norris pushed multiple times, sometimes off the track, until he eventually managed to make a clean move around the outside at Turn 4, their battle was one of the most exciting of the race.
Russell at second place was having trouble, he was at risk due to a possible DRS violation and an issue with his gearbox. All of this then allowed Norris to approach him quickly. The McLaren driver tried a last move around the outside at Turn 1 on the last lap, giving it everything he had to secure his second-place finish. However it wasn’t enough, Russell stayed solid and defended pretty well all the way to the checkered flag.
All of it did not affect Piastri, who took the win home after a well-deserved victory. Although Russell’s result remains subject to a post-race examination over that DRS issue, he finished in second position, barely ahead of Norris in third.
After a difficult drive, Leclerc was not able to keep up with the McLarens and finished in fourth place. Verstappen never fully recovered from his pit stop issues, and Hamilton ended sixth.
Alpine scored its first points of the season thanks to Gasly’s sixth place, while the top 10 was completed by Ocon, Tsunoda, and Bearman.
After suffering a collision with Tsunoda, Sainx unfortunately did not finish the race. Lawson also ended up outside the points after receiving several penalties for causing collisions.
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However, Oscar Piastri kept it clean, fast, and cool in a race where almost everyone had been involved in chaos.
The provisional finish for the Bahrain GP
