Oscar Piastri scored his most emphatic victory so far in Bahrain, along with his first ‘hat trick’ of pole place, quickest lap and victory.
He’s the forty ninth driver in F1 historical past to attain that feat. He additionally took the second pole place of his profession, which made him the seventy fifth a number of pole-winner in System 1 historical past.
On Sunday he claimed his fourth grand prix victory in his fiftieth begin. He now has as many victories as Bruce McLaren – although the McLaren workforce founder solely gained as soon as in his personal automobile, taking his different three victories for Cooper. Piastri additionally attracts stage along with his McLaren predecessor Carlos Sainz Jnr, plus Eddie Irvine and Dan Gurney.
This was McLaren’s third victory within the first 4 grands prix of the season – two for Piastri and one for Lando Norris within the opening spherical at Melbourne. It’s their finest begin to a championship since 1998, when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard gained three races between them within the MP4-13. Till final yr, that season was the newest event on which McLaren gained the constructors’ championship.
Neither of McLaren’s drivers have ever recognized the workforce to start out a season so efficiently: Norris was born in 1999, Piastri 2001.
Piastri delivered McLaren’s first win and pole place within the dwelling of their racing division’s majority shareholder, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat. Ferrari has essentially the most wins on this race, with seven, the primary coming on the inaugural 2004 occasion.
For the third race in a row, each McLaren drivers completed on the rostrum. Norris has now achieved so for 5 races working, which is his longest streak of rostrum appearances.
The pair have been break up by George Russell. Though this was his 18th official podium end, as he famous afterwards, few of these have been for second place. This was solely his third, and the primary of these got here within the non-event that was the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
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After introducing a brand new ground, Ferrari loved their finest results of the season to date in a grand prix, together with Lewis Hamilton’s first prime 5 end since becoming a member of them.
Verstappen’s last-lap cross on Pierre Gasly meant he completed sixth and ensured he prevented his worst working place on the chequered flag because the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix. Coincidentally, that was additionally the final race at which he made an on-track cross for place on the ultimate lap, taking Sebastian Vettel. Verstappen has now completed sixth in three of the final 9 grands prix.
Regardless of his relegation to seventh place, Gasly delivered Alpine’s first factors of the season with seventh place. All 10 groups have now scored factors, and far sooner than final yr, when it took Sauber till the penultimate spherical to get on the board.
Yuki Tsunoda scored his first factors as a Pink Bull driver with ninth place. This ended Pink Bull’s five-race run of solely scoring factors with certainly one of its vehicles (particularly, Verstappen’s). This was the longest run through which Pink Bull failed to attain factors with each vehicles since 2018, once they went six races with solely Verstappen or Daniel Ricciardo taking factors.
Oliver Bearman climbed 10 locations to attain factors for the third grand prix in a row, which can also be his fifth factors rating of his seven profession begins. That plus Esteban Ocon’s eighth place moved Haas as much as fifth within the constructors’ championship, the best place they’ve ever completed a season, which was additionally again in 2018.
That tenth place for Bearman got here on the expense of his 2024 Prema System 2 workforce mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, now at Mercedes, who failed to attain some extent for the primary time in his F1 profession (together with dash races).
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He, like workforce mate Russell, obtained a one-place grid drop after qualifying. This beforehand uncommon penalty has now been issued thrice within the final six grands prix, the opposite being for Verstappen in Qatar final yr. Previous to that it hadn’t been seen since the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix.
4 drivers aren’t but to attain factors this yr: Jack Doohan, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto and Fernando Alonso. That is the primary time Alonso’s failed to attain within the first 4 grands prix since 2017.
That, in fact, was the final time he raced an F1 automobile powered by Honda, which is able to take over as Aston Martin’s energy unit provider subsequent yr. To say Alonso shall be hoping they do a greater job than once they powered his McLarens can be fairly an understatement.
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