‘Pretty damn fun!’ Piastri leads from start to finish to win Bahrain Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri led from start to finish to win the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday and notch up his second win of this Formula 1 season and fourth of his career.

The Australian, driving in his 50th grand prix, took a commanding lead for McLaren from pole and did not look back, retaining the lead despite the safety car at one point cutting his seven-second lead to almost nothing.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri on the podium.Credit: AP

The Williams of Carlos Sainz came into contact with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda on lap 32, the subsequent go-slow giving Mercedes driver George Russell the chance to close in on Piastri.

But the Australian held his nerve after racing resumed, building a lead of 15½ seconds to close out the race ahead of Russell, with McLaren’s Lando Norris crossing in third.

Piastri led the race throughout, only relinquishing his place briefly to pit for new tyres to complete what team principal Andrea Stella called a “perfect drive – a perfect weekend by Oscar”.

Australia’s Oscar Piastri takes the chequered flag in Bahrain.Credit: AP

“It’s gonna be one hell of a party tonight! Mega weekend everyone, mega! That was pretty damn fun,” Piastri declared over the team radio, although he later added that he, in fact, would not be joining the celebrations due to the tight turnaround for next week’s race in Saudi Arabia.

“It’s been an incredible weekend,” he said after claiming McLaren’s first-ever win in Bahrain, the home of the team’s majority owners. “To finish the job today in style was nice.”

The win was Piastri’s second of 2025 after the Chinese Grand Prix in March, making the man from Melbourne the first driver to win two races this year.

The milestone – achieved after just five races – already equals his 2024 total after he won the Hungarian and Azerbaijan races in his second season for McLaren.

The win in Bahrain meant Piastri jumped above four-time defending world champion, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, into second place in the championship standings on 74 points, and is now just three behind teammate Norris in first place. Verstappen has 69 points.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri takes the lead from pole in Bahrain.Credit: AP

The race featured a succession of technical issues for all the major teams. Russell had to deal with electrical problems on his car and was facing an investigation into his use of the DRS overtake aid system. Russell said it had opened when he pressed the button to use the radio.

Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari after losing a hard-fought battle to Norris, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton started ninth but cut through the field to finish fifth.

Verstappen was last at one stage but survived an overheating car and a slow pit stop to finish sixth, passing Pierre Gasly, who was seventh for Alpine.

Esteban Ocon of Haas was eighth, with Yuki Tsunoda ninth for his first points since joining the main Red Bull outfit from RB, and Oliver Bearman 10th in the other Haas.

Formula 1 drivers’ standings – the top 10

1. Lando Norris (UK, McLaren): 77
2. Oscar Piastri (Australia, McLaren): 74
3. Max Verstappen (Netherlands): 69
4. George Russell (UK, Mercedes): 63
5. Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Ferrari): 32
6. Kimi Antonelli (Italy, Mercedes): 30
7. Lewis Hamilton (UK, Ferrari): 25
8. Alexander Albon (Thailand, Williams): 18
9. Esteban Ocon (France, Haas): 14
10. Lance Stroll (Canada, Aston Martin): 10

Staff writers, with wires

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