McLaren’s Oscar Piastri surges to dominant victory at Bahrain F1 GP

Flawless was the assessment of Oscar Piastri’s race engineer after the Australian delivered an absolutely consummate victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Calm and controlled throughout, this was a champion’s drive from Piastri that has made it abundantly clear he is in contention to return said championship this season.

The former Olympic rowing silver medallist Tom Stallard is Piastri’s engineer but unflappable, almost preternaturally composed, Piastri barely needed so much as a gentle nudge from him all race, such was the ease with which he drove from pole to flag to take McLaren’s first victory at the Sakhir circuit.

His lead when the flag fell, was 15 and a half seconds from Mercedes’ George Russell, who was followed home in a fight to the last by Piastri’s McLaren teammate, Lando Norris. The Australian and the McLaren had been in a class of their own throughout but behind him his rivals dashed hither and thither in what at times was an enthralling scrap that ebbed and flowed.

One enlivened not least by the magnificent drive by Russell and a feisty comeback by Norris, for whom it was a rollercoaster that had begun before the lights had even gone out and was the least he needed to cling on to his title lead by the fingertips.

Russell’s drive would have felt familiar to anyone who has kicked the tyres of a second-hand car and confidently driven off only to discover they have been sold a veritable pup.

In the final third he was clinging onto second and given soft tyres to make it to the end, which he referred to as an “audacious” decision by his team. This would have been task enough only for the car to add to the jeopardy by slowly but surely withdrawing its labour.

First he had a DRS problem and was then warned he might lose the dash display too, which duly did fail. “As long as the steering wheel doesn’t fall off,” he observed with no little nonchalance as the transponder on his car also gave up the ghost. Then he had a brake by wire failure, the pedal first going long then short, an alarming situation on the one component the drivers have to trust most. “No brakes no steering wheel, what more do we need,” he said afterwards.

The car was clearly struggling and at one point the DRS opened to his shock when he pushed a button not associated with it. He closed it and backed off to allow for it having opened when not in range of Piastri, an offence for which he was investigated after the race but exonerated as he had gained no advantage.

By the close he had Norris clambering all over his gearbox as the Mercedes, beset with issues, creaked onwards toward the line. Russell held it together admirably and just held off the assault.

George Russell holds off a challenge from Lando Norris. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Norris in turn also delivered a fine run to be in that position. Poor qualification had him starting from sixth on the gird and when he duly lined up, he edged one wheel outside the limits of his grid box. An inarguable false start for which he was swiftly given a five second penalty, after he had made a bravura start to climb up to third place. Penalty taken, he found himself in a fierce to and fro with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished fourth, one place in front of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, which lasted for the second half of the race before the British driver finally made a decisive pass to take the place and hared off after Russell.

All of which drama sat in stark contrast to Piastri who was barely noticeable out front. His biggest headache was a malfunctioning drinks bottle and handling a safety car restart, which he handled thirstily but with aplomb and after which he was simply gone.

For Norris, as an exercise in damage limitation, it was enough. But he knows that weekends like this are not those that make championships and that his lack of connection with the car at the moment sits in comparison to the ease his teammate is enjoying.

Indeed the title fight is well and truly alive and Piastri is at the very sharp end. On the form he has shown thus far he might now be considered favourite and but for his spin in the wet in Australia he would almost certainly be leading the title fight.

He is currently finding much better form in qualifying than Norris and has demonstrated that when he can stretch his legs out front he has all the hallmarks of a champion. There is something of the Alain Prost about the smooth ease and precision with which he puts in these perfectly executed laps, the Aussie Professor.

The result then leaves the world championship finely poised. Norris now leads from Piastri by just three points. Max Verstappen – who toiled round in a Red Bull with which the world champion was once more very dissatisfied and finished only sixth – is now third, five points further in arrears.

Flawless at the front then, McLaren have the upper hand and without doubt a championship-winning car. Piastri and Norris have the best seats in the house but it is the Australian who is most comfortable.

Pierre Gasly finished seventh for Alpine, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman in eighth and 10th for Haas, with Yuki Tsunoda ninth for Red Bull.