Oscar Piastri grabbed another win to continue his strong opening to the 2025 Formula 1 season under the lights during Sunday’s (April 12) Bahrain Grand Prix.
George Russell finished second ahead of Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris, after the Mercedes driver put up a hard defense against Norris’ late-race charge.
“It’s great to have this result [in Bahrain],” Piastri told Sky Sports after the race. “It’s been an incredible weekend starting off with qualifying yesterday and to finish the job today in style was nice. I 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 I’m very proud of what I’ve done this weekend as well.”
A milestone moment 🧡#McLaren | #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/XAUUsDY30T
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 13, 2025
Charles Leclerc took a comfortable fourth-place finish, followed by Lewis Hamilton in fifth, both unable to extract more pace from Ferrari’s SF-25. Pierre Gasly, leading a strong performance for Alpine, finished sixth.
The field had no trouble at the start, as all cars got through turn 1 without a scratch, Piastri pulled ahead from Russell, who took a close call in the first turn and avoided hitting the back wheels of the McLaren.
Meanwhile, in third position, Norris received a five-second penalty as he was found guilty of starting outside his grid spot; his front wheels were slightly ahead of the marker for his starting position. For caution’s sake, it was also called out by Max Verstappen in case the stewards missed it.
By lap 10, the pit window was open, and as Norris served his penalty in his pit box, it was also a slow pit stop for the Red Bulls. The pit stop lights that signal the driver is clear to exit the box were having issues in the RB garage, causing both Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda to lose crucial seconds in the stop.
A safety car unexpectedly hopped on the track in lap 32 as debris was found on the track after Tsunoda slightly rear-ended the Williams of Carlos Sainz. Gasly went for a gamble and strolled on while all drivers went for the free pit stop under the safety car as they got to save seven to eight seconds compared to a normal stop.
The action came back on lap 36 and the battle was on for the win as Piastri pushed ahead on medium tires, followed by Russell on soft tires and Leclerc on hard tires; Bahrain surely put Pirelli’s compounds to the test.
A heated battle for fourth unfolded as Norris overtook Hamilton, but with four wheels off the track, he was forced to give the position back. Unbothered, he snatched the position off his fellow Briton two laps later and brought the heat to Leclerc for third.
For the weekend of his father’s birthday, Sainz surely hoped to give his father a better gift than a DNF, as he was ordered to retire the car on lap 46. With a severely damaged sidepod and after being served two five-second penalties, the race was no longer worth the effort.
Norris’ race craft got the better of Leclerc’s defense on lap 52 and he was soon powering through to find Russell and get the ideal 1-2 finish for McLaren. Despite his best attempts, Russell held his stance in second position, relegating Norris to third.
All in all, it was a calm evening for Piastri, who brought home McLaren’s first win in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
McLaren's first win in Bahrain! 🎇🎆#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/aC8P1N79Cr
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2025
Verstappen found himself in a solid sixth position following a troubled night with bad pit stops and wrong tire strategies. His partner Tsunoda suffered the same fate for an acceptable ninth-place finish, scoring the first double-points for RB in the season.
Final commendation goes for the Haas team, with Esteban Ocon finishing eighth behind Verstappen and young rookie Oliver Bearman scoring another point in a remarkable 10th.
F1 Bahrain Results
Formula 1 returns to the track on April 20 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
