After simply 50 Grands Prix, he already smells the scent of a world title. Oscar Piastri, an Australian of distant Italian origins, dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix within the type of true champions: pole place, good begin, flawless restart after the Security Automobile, a formidable tempo with out ever making a mistake. His race was so robust that it grew to become a one-man present. The others have been left behind to struggle fiercely amongst themselves, whereas Oscar Piastri led with unwavering rhythm. And in the long run, just some typical phrases on the staff radio, with out bursts of pleasure or triumphant screams: similar to Kimi Raikkonen, the Iceman to whom Oscar Piastri resembles not solely in character but additionally in his clear, exact driving with touches of sophistication.
McLaren thus managed to triumph in its second “house” race, as it’s owned by Bahrain’s sovereign fund, which rescued it from money owed and monetary slaloms that might have made it disappear from the motorsport scene. The one-two end was lacking, although, as a result of Lando Norris made an limitless sequence of errors that penalized him, relegating him to 3rd place underneath the chequered flag, trailing a really sharp George Russell who defended properly towards a doable overtake. McLaren was there, displaying a sure superiority, although not as clear-cut as anticipated, even when nobody is aware of what margin Oscar Piastri had in reserve.
Lando Norris stays on the prime of the championship, however Bahrain revealed two issues: the primary is that Oscar Piastri is at the moment displaying a maturity that may be relied upon; the second is that Norris, though a really quick driver, has a psychological fragility that worries McLaren’s management.
On a energetic day filled with surprises, Ferrari stays behind however can a minimum of take some positives from Sunday’s race. The efficiency was there, Charles Leclerc was strong each on the Medium and Laborious Pirelli tyres: up till 10 laps from the top, the Monegasque driver was solely 7 seconds behind Oscar Piastri: by no means has a Ferrari seemed so quick this 12 months, even when the ultimate gaps have been massive, with Charles Leclerc ending fourth, 19.6 seconds behind, and Lewis Hamilton fifth at 27.9 seconds.
Charles Leclerc drove like a lion and there was no contest together with his Maranello teammate. An aggressiveness proven in each part of the race, which raises a small query: are Ferrari’s enhancements all the way down to his driving miracles, or did the SF-25 with the brand new flooring truly contribute? As a result of it shouldn’t be forgotten that forward of Ferrari have been nonetheless the McLaren MCL39 vehicles and George Russell’s glorious Mercedes, which got here second with a marathon-style drive. Hidden within the folds of the race was the sixth place of Max Verstappen, whose Purple Bull didn’t adapt in any respect to the monitor. However he nonetheless introduced house extra factors and stays shut, solely 8 factors from the championship chief, able to make up for his automotive’s many shortcomings together with his talent.
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