Oscar Piastri claimed his second victory of the 2025 Formula One season with a commanding performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix, leading from lights out to the checkered flag.
Starting from pole, the McLaren driver never relinquished control, even after a safety car on Lap 32 wiped out his seven-second cushion over George Russell.
Piastri kept his cool, fended off the Mercedes challenge at the restart and stormed away to seal the win.
"It's been an incredible weekend," he said. "To finish the job in style today was really special. I can’t thank the team enough for the car they gave me."
"I would have preferred not to have the safety car, but I was still pretty confident. It was relatively straightforward. I was never going to let that one go," he added.
Russell finished second to claim his third podium in four races this year, though he is under investigation for a potential DRS infringement.
"Oscar was in a league of his own, so congratulations to him and McLaren. But for ourselves, four races, three podiums at different kinds of tracks is pretty good," Russell said.
Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, took third despite intense pressure on Russell for second place.
Norris retained his championship lead and is now three points clear of teammate Piastri in the standings, while Max Verstappen dropped to third.
Four-time defending champion Verstappen, who won the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend, finished sixth in Bahrain. The Red Bull driver struggled throughout the weekend.
Piastri held his lead despite pressure from Russell, who had overtaken the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for second. Norris, meanwhile, had a blistering start, jumping from sixth to third and pushing Leclerc to fourth.
However, Norris was found to be out of position on the grid and was handed a five-second penalty, which he served during his pit stop. After the first round of stops, Piastri continued to lead ahead of Russell, with Norris in third.
But Norris didn’t stay in third for long, as Leclerc passed him on Lap 25.
At the front, Piastri had built a seven-second lead when the safety car was deployed on Lap 32 due to debris left on the track after the Williams of Carlos Sainz made contact with the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.
After the restart, Piastri retained the lead. Norris was briefly overtaken by Lewis Hamilton while attempting to attack Leclerc but reclaimed fourth place. However, McLaren instructed him to give the position back, as the move was completed off track.
Norris eventually overtook Hamilton cleanly and later passed Leclerc after a fierce fight. He then began chasing Russell, who was dealing with car issues.
"It felt all under control, and then suddenly we had a brake-by-wire failure, so the brake pedal was going long, it was going short," Russell said. "One more lap and Lando would have got me."
But time ran out, and Norris had to settle for third.
"A tough race. I made too many mistakes with the overtakes and was out of position. A messy race from me, and I'm disappointed not to bring home a one-two for McLaren," Norris said.
Leclerc finished fourth, followed by teammate Hamilton. Pierre Gasly lost out to Verstappen on the final lap and placed seventh, but secured Alpine’s first points of the season.
Esteban Ocon of Haas was eighth, while Tsunoda and Oliver Bearman, also of Haas, completed the top 10.
Next up is the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix on April 20, wrapping up this month’s tripleheader.
