Bahrain Grand Prix – Race: Oscar Piastri’s mastery, Max Verstappen loses big
Oscar Piastri dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix. The McLaren driver took his second win of the season, while his team-mate made several serious mistakes. Max Verstappen struggled with his Red Bull. Alpine finally scored some points.
The drivers were quite calm for this start. Apart from one or two wheel locks here and there, the first laps were very clean. Isack Hadjar failed to take advantage of his grid position as he dropped to sixteenth place.
In front, the Ferraris, who opted for a different strategy than most other competitors, lost places. The medium tires did not allow them to challenge the soft tires. Lando Norris had an excellent start, allowing him to beat three cars. However, the Briton was placed under investigation for an incorrect starting grid position. The stewards ultimately decided to penalize him five seconds for this infraction.
While awaiting the decision regarding the McLaren driver, several drivers decided to switch from soft to medium tires, even though the ten-lap mark had not yet been reached. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri delivered a flawless start to his segment. The man with #81, despite his lead, began to suffer with his tires. A surprising factor since other drivers in the pack were struggling at the same time. Was the choice of soft tires the right one?
Bad strategy at Red Bull
Far from the rhythm of the others, Max Verstappen decided to opt for hard tires – he was the only one to do so – during his pit stop. After provisionally taking the lead of the Grand Prix, Ferrari executed a double pit stop for its drivers. Both switched to mediums. While Charles Leclerc came out in fifth, Lewis Hamilton rejoined the race in eleventh.
The Dutchman clearly made a poor decision with these hard compounds. The Red Bull driver was overtaken from all sides. On the radio, he even pointed out an overheating issue. In his words, everything was beyond the temperature thresholds.
After a period of observation and adaptation, Lewis Hamilton found the operating mode of his SF-25. The Brit attacked his competitors one by one. His pace was similar to that of his teammate, who got the better of a much less aggressive Lando Norris than at the start of the Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen returned to the pit to switch from hard to medium tires. His stop went rather badly for Red Bull, with a halt far from the team’s standards.
Turbulent recovery
Big surprise on the 32nd lap, the safety car came back on the track. No accident. No off-road excursion. But to remove debris at turn 3 after a contact between Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon. A large part of the field took the opportunity to pit and change tires.
The race restart was very eventful. Lewis Hamilton, being very aggressive, managed to overtake Lando Norris, who regained his position immediately afterward, but by going outside the track limits. George Russell was on the offensive against Oscar Piastri. The Australian maintained his position well and handled the situation perfectly.
The man with #81 managed his lead even though he never really managed to distance himself from George Russell behind him. The stewards handed out several time penalties to drivers for collisions: to Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz. The latter threw in the towel after significant damage to his Williams.
The battle between Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc was quite intense. The British driver’s attacks were repelled by the Ferrari driver, but often just at the limit. On the 52nd lap, the McLaren finally got through. Meanwhile, George Russell complained about steering and gear shift issues, similar to Fernando Alonso during the second practice session. An investigation concerning him for a non-compliant DRS opening has been noted. A potential infraction that will be studied further.
In the final kilometers, Lando Norris came to put pressure on the Mercedes #63. George Russell took advantage of his top speed to defend.
