Oscar Piastri dominated the F1 Bahrain GP, winning by over 15 seconds from George Russell.
Oscar Piastri led away from pole position and never looked back once through Turn 1. Despite an optimistic move from George Russell threatening to derail his afternoon, Piastri dominated the race to take his fourth career victory. A perfectly timed Safety Car allowed for a fresh medium tyres in the closing stages, and he pulled away from Russell, despite the Mercedes’ soft tyre advantage after the restart.
Speaking in Parc Ferme after the race, Piastri was understandably delighted with his evening’s work.
“Its great to have this result here. It’s been an incredible weekend. Started off with qualifying yesterday and, yeah, to finish the job today in style was nice. So I can’t thank the team enough for the car they’ve given us.
“It’s pretty handy out there. So, no, it’s been a great weekend. And, yeah, very proud of what I’ve done this weekend as well.
“So, very proud to do it here in Bahrain as well. It’s obviously a very important race for us, given our owners. And it’s never been a track that’s been kind to us.
“So it’s nice to finally have that first win for the team here. Well, you’re absolutely right. McLaren have only let eight laps here at the Bahrain circuit.
Oscar Piastri “was never going to” let F1 Bahrain GP slip away
Piastri admitted the Safety Car could have caused him issues, but said he was still confident of a strong result.
” I would have preferred to not have it, yes. But I was still pretty confident. I think the pace was good.
I was pretty confident I could get a good restart. I also knew that Lando [Norris] was the only one with another medium. And that was the tyre to be on.
Piastri then said he had no intention of surrendering position to Russell at the restart.
“So, from that side of things, it was relatively straightforward. Obviously, you try and get a good restart. You never quite know how it’s going to go.
“But, no, I was never going to let that one go.
The Australian also admitted that he will not be celebrating his victory with too much vigor, as F1 prepares to race in Jeddah next weekend.
“I don’t know. I’m sure it’s going to be a hell of a party. I’m not going to get involved because I’ve got a race again next week. But, no, it’s been a great weekend for everybody.
“It’s a great place to do it. So, I’m sure everybody will enjoy it. And as they should.
