Oscar Piastri stormed to a controlled Bahrain Grand Prix win, and moved into 2nd in the Formula One (F1) Drivers’ Championship, as chaos and overtakes galore unfolded behind him.
It was a clean drive from the Aussie, who kept his cool in the heat of the Bahraini desert, whilst those behind him duelled under the lights.
Russell crossed the line in second place, ahead Lando Norris, who endured a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix.
The result is subject to confirmation, with several investigations still pending after the race.
There was plenty of overtakes at the Bahrain Grand Prix, making up for the relatively processional races thus far in 2025.
A string recovery from Norris means he stays atop of the F1 Drivers’ World Championship standings, ahead of Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.
It was a first win for McLaren in Bahrain, as Piastri became the first repeat winner of 2025.
How the Bahrain Grand Prix Unfolded
After qualifying on pole position, Oscar Piastri got away well with George Russell past Charles Leclerc into turn one.
Russell locked up heavily and nearly hit Piastri into the first turn but made sure of his second place.
A rocket start from Lando Norris moved the Brit into third place and ahead of Leclerc.
Perhaps maybe it was too good of a start though, as Norris was noted for being out of position at the start and given a five second penalty.
Sainz moved into the top six as Verstappen and Antonelli struggled in the opening laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Both Ferrari’s were playing the long game on the medium tyres, the only drivers in the top half of the grid to do so.
A late lunge, but clean move, from Kimi Antonelli moved the Italian passed Carlos Sainz and into 6th, an overtake which opened the door for Verstappen for follow suit and get through on the Williams.
Sainz’s struggles continued on lap nine as Hamilton and Tsunoda got through.
Antonelli got passed a fast Gasly on lap 10 as Verstappen tried to follow through as well.
Lap 10 saw Norris pit serve his penalty but came out ahead of Gasly and Verstappen, who came out on the hard tyres for the middle stint, whilst others opted for the mediums.
Antonelli pitted a few laps later for the medium tyres and dropped the position to Verstappen.
Russell came in a lap later and just maintained track position over Norris, before Piastri followed suit and fitted the medium tyres, emerging 3rd on the road and in the net-lead of the race.
Verstappen and Antonelli were stuck in a DRS train behind Ocon and Alonso as we made it to 1/3 race distance.
A routine double stop from Ferrari saw Leclerc emerge in 5th for Leclerc and Hamilton in 11th place, with the Brit getting passed Tsunoda and back into the points soon after.
Antonelli made it passed Verstappen with some clever race craft into turn four and relegated Verstappen to P8.
Hamilton rolled the years back to 2021 with a smooth move into T11 as Verstappen complained of overheating, with the Alpine of Doohan chasing the Dutchman.
Ferrari’s late stops gave them a tyre advantage over the other cars with Leclerc chasing down Norris and having a go into T1 on lap 24.
The Monegasque outbroke himself and Norris breezed back passed, but at the second bite of the cherry a lap later, moved into the podium places.
Hamilton moved up into 7th with another good pass into T7, overtaking his Mercedes replacement Antonelli.
A lap later, the Ferrari was into sixth with a move on Ocon.
Verstappen’s pain on the hard tyres was ended on lap 26, but not without an extremely slow stop that left Verstappen dead last.
Antonelli and Ocon pitted a lap later and emerged ahead of Verstappen, with Antonelli tasked with taking the soft tyres a long way.
Sainz continued his recovery as he moved passed Tsunoda and into 6th.
With 24 laps to go though, the Bahrain grand Prix handed us a curveball with a safety car thrown due to debris on the track from Tsunoda’s front wing which saw virtually the whole field pit.
Piastri maintained the lead on mediums, with Russell behind on softs. The Ferrari’s pitted and both went on hard tyres with Norris sandwiched in between on fresh softs. Gasly, Ocon, Verstappen, and Doohan all stayed out and, along with Sainz, completed the top 10.
Lap 36 saw the race get underway and a feisty restart from Lando Norris backfired as Hamilton passed him into T1.
Norris re-overtook into turn four but off track and was forced to give the place back.
Piastri maintained the lead from Russell at the restart, despite handing out a healthy toe down the main straight.
There was a little lull in the Bahrain Grand Prix after the safety car, as Norris chased down Charles Leclerc for third place.
Carlos Sainz, who had been running well before the safety car, was handed a 10 second time penalty for a move on the restart, ending his slim chance of a second points finish for Williams, if the massive damage to his sidepod hadn’t done that already.
The team agreed and retired the car with 10 laps to go.
Leclerc continued to be heavily chased by Norris, who locked up into turn one.
A few laps later, Norris tried again but couldn’t find the room around the outside of turn four.
Norris finally got passed Leclerc and into the podium places at turn four on lap 53 with a fine move around the outside.
Ahead, Russell’s Mercedes was slowly disintegrating with DRS and electric failures with Norris charging towards him.
It was an end to the Bahrain Grand Prix full of technical issues, as several teams struggled to determine whether they could use DRS.
Norris forced Russell to defend for his life in the final few laps, but couldn’t find a way through before the chequered flag.
There were several strong performances down the grid, with Ferrari finishing 4th and 5th with Leclerc ahead of Hamilton.
Verstappen finished 6th, pipping the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, with Esteban Ocon in 8th.
A first double points finish of 2025 for Red Bull saw Tsunoda finishing in 9th, with Oliver Bearman doing a last to points challenge and finished in 10th.
A first pointless weekend for Antonelli, as the Italian finished just half a second behind Oliver Bearman.