Oscar Piastri dominates to win the Bahrain Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri wins the Bahrain Grand Prix after dominating all weekend.

It's the Australian's second win this season and his 50th Grand Prix start in F1.

He held a strong lead throughout the Grand Prix and, apart from his near collision with Russell in the opening corner due to the Mercedes locking up, he drove a seamless race.

A safety car on Lap 32 due to parts on the track could have ben a threat to Piastri's lead, but he handled the restart well and held onto P1.

The 24 year-old has sealed himself as a strong championship contender. 

George Russell crossed the line in P2 for Mercedes after a tight battle with Lando Norris in the closing laps with the Mclaren having to settle for P3 after a tough race. However, the Mercedes driver will have to wait for his result to be secure due to the stewards investigating a possible DRS infringement. More update on the outcome of that to follow.

Norris had to settle for a 5 second penalty after a false start due to starting well outside of his grid box, an error that the driver confirmed as a complete misjudgment in his post race interview. He fought back to P3 in the race and was challenging Russell for P2 but ran out of laps to get the move done.

Charles Leclerc had to settle for P4 in his Ferrari. Disappointing to lose out to Russell and Norris at the start and despite putting pressure on for P3, he couldn't make an impression. His teammate Lewis Hamilton came home in just behind in fifth - a welcome result after a tricky start to the weekend for him. Overall it was a good step forward for Ferrari who brought major upgrades to the car this weekend. 

Max Verstappen had a far from smooth race - with issues setting him back in both of his pitstops and an overall struggle with the car across the weekend. He was prevented from driving away during his frist pitstop due to being held by a red light. The Dutchman did well to snatch P6 and still score decent points. His Red Bull counterpart Yuki Tsunoda took ninth place and scored the first points not to be wracked up by Verstappen for the team this season.

A great drive from Pierre Gasly saw him take P7 and Alpine's first points of the season whilst his teammate Jack Doohan finished P15, unable to make the top 10 and add to the points tally. 

Haas had a great evening in Bahrain with both cars in the top 10. Esteban Ocon placed eighth and a brilliant drive from Oliver Bearman saw him pick up the final points place after starting at the back of the grid. Despite a scare with an unsafe release investigation, it was not looked into further and the British teenager continues to shine at the American based team.

Kimi Antonelli missed out on the points for the first time this season coming home in P11 which was an unfortunate outcome for the teen. Alex Albon finished the race in P12 in what was a race to forget for the Williams team. 

Nico Hulkenberg finshed P13 whilst his rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto only managed P19 as the Kick Sauber team still struggle in the early parts of the season. 

Isack Hadjar placed P14 which will no doubt be disappointing for the French driver after such a impressive performance in Japan last time out. His teammate Liam Lawson had a difficult race being handed not only 5 second penalty for for causing a collision but a further 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Hulkenberg. He finished in P17. 

The Aston Martin's both struggled again this week with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll only managing P16 and P18 respectively.

Carlos Sainz retired from the race after a pretty diastrous outing. He was handed a 10 second penalty for forcing another driver off the track, only to retire shortly after due to extensive damage to his sidepod after a collision with Tsunoda. 

We go into the third race in the triple header next week with Round 5 of the 2025 season taking place in Jeddah. Lando Norris still leading the championship with 74 points whilst his teammate Oscar Piastri sits only three points behind him following this race. Its all to play - or should I say race for!

Top 10 in the Driver Championship standings
1. Lando Norris
2. Oscar Piastri 
3. Max Verstappen
4. George Russell
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Kimi Antonelli 
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Alex Albon
9. Esteban Ocon 
​10. Lance Stroll

Katie Shepherd
Writer - F1 Journal