After just 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 in the style of true champions: pole position, perfect start, flawless restart after the Safety Car, an impressive pace without ever making a mistake. His race was so strong that it became a one-man show. The others were left behind to fight fiercely among themselves, while Oscar Piastri led with unwavering rhythm. And in the end, just a few conventional words on the team radio, without bursts of joy or triumphant screams: just like Kimi Raikkonen, the Iceman to whom Oscar Piastri resembles not only in character but also in his clean, precise driving with touches of class.
McLaren thus managed to triumph in its second “home” race, as it is owned by Bahrain’s sovereign fund, which rescued it from debts and financial slaloms that could have made it disappear from the motorsport scene. The one-two finish was missing, though, because Lando Norris made an endless series of errors that penalized him, relegating him to third place under the chequered flag, trailing a very sharp George Russell who defended well against a possible overtake. McLaren was there, showing a certain superiority, though not as clear-cut as expected, even if no one knows what margin Oscar Piastri had in reserve.
Lando Norris remains at the top of the championship, but Bahrain revealed two things: the first is that Oscar Piastri is currently showing a maturity that can be relied upon; the second is that Norris, although a very fast driver, has a mental fragility that worries McLaren’s leadership.
On a lively day full of surprises, Ferrari remains behind but can at least take some positives from Sunday’s race. The performance was there, Charles Leclerc was solid both on the Medium and Hard Pirelli tyres: up until 10 laps from the end, the Monegasque driver was only 7 seconds behind Oscar Piastri: never has a Ferrari looked so fast this year, even if the final gaps were large, with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth, 19.6 seconds behind, and Lewis Hamilton fifth at 27.9 seconds.
Charles Leclerc drove like a lion and there was no contest with his Maranello teammate. An aggressiveness shown in every phase of the race, which raises a small question: are Ferrari’s improvements down to his driving miracles, or did the SF-25 with the new floor actually contribute? Because it shouldn’t be forgotten that ahead of Ferrari were still the McLaren MCL39 cars and George Russell’s excellent Mercedes, which came second with a marathon-style drive. Hidden in the folds of the race was the sixth place of Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull didn’t adapt at all to the track. But he still brought home more points and remains close, only 8 points from the championship leader, ready to make up for his car’s many shortcomings with his skill.
