Oscar Piastri reflected on the decisions made by McLaren and himself during the F1 Bahrain GP.
Oscar Piastri never relinquished control of the race under the lights in Bahrain. He had an answer to every challenge. After the race in Parc Ferme, he revealed his mindset, confirming he had no intention of letting the victory slip away. Understandably delighted at his fourth career win, Piastri was still all smiles in the post race press conference.
When asked how satisfying his win was, he reflected on the work done across the weekend to secure the result.
‘Very. It’s been a great weekend – maybe not FP1, because that was pretty diabolical for everyone, but FP2 onwards has been very, very strong. I was happy after qualifying yesterday and I think that made quite a big difference today. So very, very pleased with how the weekend’s gone and happy to come away with another win.”
Piastri then walked through the strategy calls made by McLaren, praising his team. He revealed his MCL39 had the pace to throw off any challenges.
“We kind of thought most people would start on the soft. George only had one Medium and one hard, and there were quite a lot of people around us that were in the same boat.
“So we felt starting on the soft was going to be the best option, and I think it was the right choice in the end. So pleased with how we managed everything. I think we had the pace today to be able to manage things pretty well. But yeah, I think we made all the right calls.
Drinks bottle drama from Oscar Piastri at the F1 Bahrain GP
Piastri then revealed detail behind an issue affecting him during the race: his drink bottle not working.
“No, it didn’t work. I don’t know what happened. It worked on the lap to grid and then when we plugged it in for the race it was still working a little bit, but I had to draw the water out pretty forcefully, let’s say.
“And then once the race got underway, I couldn’t get any water through the straw. So that wasn’t ideal, but you know, Bahrain is not the most physical race of the year. If it had happened next week, it would have been a much bigger drama, but we’ll make sure it’s fixed.”
Asked to reflect on the accolade of being the first repeat winner this season, Piastri said winning gave
“I think both have been good. I’ve been happy with how I’ve driven all season so far. Maybe not all the results have been exactly what I wanted, but I think this weekend has definitely been the result I wanted.
“So been proud of the job that I’ve been doing and very proud of the job the team’s done. Obviously the car is in a great place.
“Still has its moments where it bites, but for a lot of the time it’s an incredible car to drive and clearly very quick. So yeah, very proud of the work we’re doing. This has been a track that’s not been kind to us in the past, so to have a weekend like we have had this weekend is a really meaningful result – outside of the victory.
