Peerless Piastri dominates Bahrain GP

The Australian started from pole and commanded the race, only ceding top spot through the pit sequence.

He led George Russell, who survived a reliability scare in his Mercedes, with a combative Lando Norris in third.

However, Russell’s second was under a cloud with the Brit facing a post-race investigation for a DRS issue.

Jack Doohan ran inside the points for long stretches but fell down to 13th at the flag, while Liam Lawson was 13th.

At the race start, Piastri jumped from pole as George Russell and Charles Leclerc went side by side in the fight for second.

A locked brake from Russell saw him slither through around the outside to take the place, drawing alongside and close to contact with Piastri in the process.

Behind them, a fast start for Lando Norris saw the championship leader climb to fourth at the opening corner and third as the field rounded Turn 4.

At the end of the opening lap, Piastri led Russell from Norris, Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Yuki Tsunoda.

Jack Doohan remained in 11th and Liam Lawson 17th, one place behind Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar who dropped four places on Lap 1.

As the pack started Lap 3, officials noted Norris for being out of position at the race start, having rolled long in his grid box.

It resulted in a five-second time penalty for the Brit, which he served at his first stop.

A combative Verstappen went wheel-to-wheel with Sainz in a scrap for seventh place, going around the outside of the Spaniard at Turn 4 and hanging it there as the plunged down the hill to take the place.

Verstappen was close to running off the track on the exit of Turn 4, which was noted by officials but ultimately saw no further action.

On the soft tyres, Piastri soon began to stretch his legs in the race lead as Norris began applying pressure to Russell in second.

The second McLaren was easily within DRS range of the Mercedes, and clearly had pace in hand but struggled to get close enough to mount an attack.

Having been cleared by Verstappen, Sainz soon came under attack from Hamilton, who looked to pounce at Turn 4 on Lap 9.

Sainz fended off the initial attack but was powerless against the Ferrari once it gained DRS down the back straight, opening the door for Tsunoda to follow through as the Williams driver was bundled down to 10th.

Gasly was also beginning to struggle and the Alpine driver quickly lost out to Antonelli to come under Verstappen’s attention.

At the end of Lap 10, McLaren boxed Norris from third, serving his penalty before feeding back out into 14th on the medium tyres.

Verstappen was also in as Red Bull fitted the hard rubber to the Dutchman’s car. An issue with the release lights delayed his return to the race.

McLaren pitted Piastri from the race lead after 14 laps, handing the race lead to Leclerc as he took on a set of medium tyres.

Ferrari had started both Leclerc and Hamilton on the medium rubber, as did a handful of others, though most of the front runners had elected for softs.

The Scuderia double-stacked its drivers when they eventually pitted after 17 laps, the pair both taking on a set of fresh mediums.

Following the opening round of stops, Piastri led from Russell and Norris at the front of the race, while Doohan had risen to ninth and began harrying Verstappen for eighth.

The four-time champ was struggling for grip on the hard rubber versus the mediums on the Alpine behind him.

Hamilton was also moving forward after his long first stint cost him track position.

He recovered ninth from Doohan as they started Lap 22, quickly putting manners on Verstappen with the help of DRS on the back straight half a lap later.

Ahead, teammate Leclerc was challenging Norris.

The Monegasque sent it up the inside of his McLaren rival at Turn 1 as they started Lap 24 but couldn’t get the Ferrari slowed down in time as Norris was able to scamper back through.

Leclerc wouldn’t be denied and went around the long way around Turn 4 to take third place.

As he did that, Hamilton moved beyond Antonelli and then Esteban Ocon next time around to move up to sixth.

Struggling for pace, Verstappen dived in for a second stop as he completed Lap 26 to take on a set of mediums.

It was a horrible stop. The right front refused to come off, and he plummeted to last once he rejoined the race.

On Lap 33, the Safety Car was deployed to clear debris at Turn 3 – parts of Sainz’s front wing after battle with Tsunoda that became physical.

It triggered a flurry of pit activity that played out perfectly for Piastri, who’d held a comfortable eight-second advantage prior to the interruption.

With 22 laps remaining as racing resumed, Piastri had a set of medium tyres on his car, with softs for Russell, hards for Leclerc, and mediums for Norris in fourth.

Hamilton ran fifth ahead of Gasly, Ocon, Verstappen, Doohan, and Sainz to round out the points-paying places.

Piastri jumped early with Russell going with him as Leclerc was caught napping.

As Norris attacked the Ferrari, he was boxed in and fell behind Hamilton instead, only to claw the place back at Turn 4.

He was quickly told to give the position back as he’d claimed it while running wide of track limits, pulling aside and allowing Hamilton through on the run to Turn 4 on Lap 37.

Next time around, he moved through cleanly on the seven-time champ to have the pass done well before the apex of Turn 4.

In the frenetic restart, Lawson was pinged for causing a collision with Lance Stroll, the pair having also been noted for a Safety Car infringement.

There was a penalty too for Sainz after he received 10 seconds for forcing Antonelli off the track.

He’d dropped well down the order, his Williams carrying heavy damage to its righthand sidepod and floor that forced his retirement.

Inside the final 10 laps, Norris attacked Leclerc, the McLaren met with resolute defending from the Ferrari.

He finally got the move done with five laps remaining.

Ahead, Russell was battling issues with his Mercedes.

His timing transponder had been playing up since mid-distance before then encountering a DRS issue.

A mistake by the Englishman saw him activate DRS when he shouldn’t have, an issue that officials announced would be investigated post-race.

That put his finishing position under a cloud as a time penalty left him at risk of losing out to Leclerc.

At McLaren, Norris was instructed only to use DRS when he was certain he was within range, alluding to a broader issue with the device.

Russell worked wonders to cling on, making his soft tyres survive a long final stint.

He was forced to defend into Turn 1 at the start of the final lap, fending off the McLaren to cling on to second until the chequered flag.

Piastri was in control out front, enjoying a comfortable advantage which translated into his second race win in three races.

Leclerc clung on to fourth with Hamilton fifth from Verstappen, Gasly, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Bearman.

Doohan saw the flag in 15th after slipping down the order in the final stages, taking a five-second penalty for track limits, while Lawson copped a 10s penalty for contact with Nico Hulkenberg soon after the Safety Car restart.

Victory for Piastri moves him into second place in the world championship fight, just three points back from Norris.

McLaren extends its constructors’ championship advantage over Mercedes, while Alpine scored its first points of the season.