Oscar Piastri became the first multiple-winner of 2025, firmly placing himself in the hunt for the FIA Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship in commanding style in the desert of Bahrain yesterday.
The McLaren driver, who was starring in his 50th start in F1, became a four-time race winner, leading from the front to secure maximum points and place himself within striking distance of the top of the Drivers’ Championship. The win in Bahrain not only marked the first win for Bahrain-owned McLaren but was also remarkably the 30th consecutive points race for the Australian driver.
Story of the Race
Heading into Turn 1, starting from pole position, the McLaren driver was put under pressure from Mercedes’ George Russell, who was starting third on the grid after both Mercedes drivers received penalties after qualifying for failing to follow the race director’s orders. However, the Mercedes driver misjudged the braking point, locking up into Turn 1, enabling Piastri to start building a commanding lead.
Teammate Lando Norris found himself in trouble with the stewards, gaining a five-second penalty for lining up incorrectly in his grid box at the start of the race, something that was instantly picked up by the eagle-eyed Max Verstappen, who was quick on the radio when he glanced over and noticed it.
This start propelled Norris from P6 all the way up to third, ahead of Leclerc, who, alongside Hamilton, Alonso, Lawson, and Bortoleto, had all opted to try a different strategy and go for the medium compound tyres, with the majority of the grid choosing the soft compound to start the race.
Gasly found himself in P5 after the start, whilst Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who was enjoying his best qualifying for the Grove-based team since his move from Ferrari, managed to go from P8 to P6.
Max Verstappen found himself in a fight for seventh with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, whilst Albon and Ocon, further back, also made up places, moving to P12 and P13. Ocon’s rookie teammate, Ollie Bearman, showed tremendous skill and pace off the line. After lining up last on the grid, he made his way all the way up to P15.
Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen found themselves in the first flashpoint of the race as Antonelli got past the Williams to move up into sixth place. Verstappen then made a bold move on the Williams driver around the outside, being pushed slightly wide but making the move stick.
Lando was instructed by the team that he would be serving a five-second penalty at the first pit stop, while behind him on Lap 9, the action heated up between Sainz once more and the driver who replaced him at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, over the P8 spot. It was Hamilton who came out on top, making the move count, before Sainz lost ground when he was also overtaken by the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who seized the opportunity to get past the Williams driver.
It was Norris who was the first of the front runners to pit, swapping to the mediums and serving that penalty before rejoining in P14, but he wasn’t the only one to suffer a slow stop, as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team ran into technical trouble whilst pitting him, with an issue with the automated slow stop affecting both Red Bull cars. Verstappen rejoined all the way down in P16 after Red Bull opted to fit the hard compound tyres. Gasly also pitted for the hard compound at the same time as Verstappen.
It was on lap 15 that McLaren decided to bring race leader Piastri in, with him enjoying a six-second lead over the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton, and a top five that was also made up of the two Williams of Sainz and Albon, who, like the cars ahead, were yet to stop.
Piastri rejoined in third after the medium tyres went on, which gave us a top ten of Leclerc, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Albon, Norris, Gasly, Alonso, Ocon, and Verstappen, who was climbing his way back up. However, out of these runners, both Ferrari drivers and Albon, and Alonso had not yet stopped, with Verstappen getting frustrated being behind the Haas of Ocon after that slow stop.
Ferrari performed a double stack to get both of their drivers in, opting to once again go for the medium compound and committing them to a two-stop, despite Leclerc seeming to be willing to try to make a one-stop work. These rounds of stops meant Leclerc rejoined in fourth, with Hamilton just outside the points in P11.
Trouble continued for Max Verstappen, who, having fitted the hard compound tyres, was complaining that the car was overheating everywhere as he struggled to get those tyres to work, surrendering seventh to Kimi Antonelli.
The Ferraris seemed to have a new lease of life, enjoying the new floor the Italian team brought with them for this weekend, with Charles making a turn 4 move on Lando Norris for third place and teammate Lewis Hamilton passing his Mercedes replacement, Kimi Antonelli, to climb into seventh as we reached the halfway point with more action by now than the whole of the Japanese race last week.
Red Bull called Verstappen in again on Lap 27 to get rid of the hard tyres; however, the front right got stuck whilst changing over to the mediums, causing more frustration for the team, who are normally top of the pit stop times, meaning that the current world champion emerged in last place.
Mercedes looked like trying something different as they called Antonelli in once more, committing him to a three-stop by putting the soft tyres on, whilst others also made the second trip to the pits.
Up at the front, as the race steamed into lap 30, Piastri seemed in complete control, six seconds ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Norris, and Hamilton, with a fight between Sainz and Tsunoda about to change the course of the race. Battling for position, the Red Bull of Tsunoda slid into the side of Sainz, causing damage to the side pod, sending bits of carbon all over the track, leaving race officials with little option but to deploy the safety car.
This was perfect timing for the top five, who all took the opportunity to make a cheap stop, all arriving and leaving in the same order with a mixture of choices that saw the two McLarens on mediums, the two Ferraris on hards and Mercedes putting Russell on softs to run until the end, an “audacious” call according to the Briton. Gasly, Ocon, Verstappen and Doohan all opted to take track position under the safety car, which put them in sixth to ninth, respectively.
The safety car was called back in on Lap 35 with Piastri timing the start perfectly with Russell tucked in behind, whilst teammate Norris found himself in a Ferrari sandwich, with Hamilton getting past before Norris retook the place. However, the move looked to be off the track, so the McLaren team radioed him to give Hamilton the place back rather than risk another penalty, which he duly did before reclaiming the race on the subsequent lap.
Piastri continued to rebuild the gap over Russell, who never really looked like challenging the lead, and by lap 40 was back up to 1.8 seconds, with a top five that also included Leclerc third, Norris fourth, and Hamilton fifth.
The fight for points was far from over, though, as former F2 teammates Bearman and Antonelli, who had survived a fight with Carlos Sainz at the restart, were locked into a battle for P11 and P12. That battle landed Sainz in trouble with the stewards, who deemed the Williams driver had forced the rookie off and hit him with a 10-second penalty.
This, coupled with the earlier damage to the car, caused Williams to pit Sainz to serve the penalty before retiring him from the race the following lap, ensuring the penalty was served and avoiding a grid penalty next time out.
Norris continued to try to find a way past the Ferrari of Leclerc with a close battle before the McLaren driver moved into the final podium place by going around the outside of turn four. Whilst just ahead, the gremlins crept into the Mercedes car of Russell with his transponder causing chaos with the timing screens, as well as an issue with gears which saw the Mercedes driver open his DRS illegally after trying a fix, something that earned a trip to the stewards after the race before being cleared of any wrongdoing.
These troubles, along with the McLaren of Norris, who had managed to get past Leclerc, meant Norris closed right up to the gearbox of Mercedes for the final parts of the race, although Russell managed to hold on for the second spot, with Norris clinching the final podium place.
Leclerc came home in fourth, Hamilton fifth, Verstappen managed a last lap overtake on Gasly for sixth, with the Frenchman getting Alpine’s first points of the season in seventh, with Ocon collecting eighth, Tsunoda getting his first Red Bull points in ninth, and then Ollie Bearman completing a double points finish for Haas starting from last on the grid, securing the final points place in tenth.
Officials disqualified Hulkenberg after the race for illegal plank wear; therefore, the remaining positions were Antonelli P11, Albon P12, Hadjar P13, Doohan P14, Alonso P15, Lawson (who also received a ten-second penalty) P16, Stroll P17, and Bortoleto P18.
