Oscar Piastri reigns supreme in Bahrain desert and emerges as title contender
Those who followed Oscar Piastri’s gold-tinted junior career would say he would one day be a Formula One World Champion. But those who have looked at him closer would say that, in only his third season, he could be Champion in 2025.
Piastri’s dominant victory in Bahrain on his 50th F1 start has formally mounted his campaign for a maiden Championship – providing a problem for McLaren teammate Lando Norris’ bid. The young Australian’s calm attitude, competitive driving and ruthless consistency has established him as one of F1’s great new talents and a strong contender for this year’s Driver’s title.
In pre-season testing at the same circuit in Sakhir, the McLarens looked mightily superior over the rest of the field; but in the Melbourne opener, the home-hero and his teammate battled with Max Verstappen before suffering a costly spin during the rain – leaving Piastri twenty-three points behind Norris, the eventual winner, at the top of the standings.
But over the last three Grand Prix weekends Piastri has clawed back the deficit to only 3 points. The Australian achieved a maiden pole in China and cruised to Grand Prix victory – a performance he replicated again in Bahrain, this time winning 15 seconds ahead of second-place George Russell. This result currently makes Piastri the only driver in F1 history to have a one-hundred-percent pole to win conversion rate from multiple victories.
Teammate Norris’ struggles to get to grips with the MCL39 has contrasted with Piastri’s utilisation of the car’s full potential, aided by his crucial improvements in race pace and tyre management. If it wasn’t for Norris’ grit in Bahrain that hoisted him to third after a sub-standard qualifying, Piastri would currently be leading the Championship for the first time in his F1 career.
The 24-year-old was first sought after following his impressive debut F2 championship win in 2021. Piastri was originally contracted under Alpine but infamously left after miscommunication and joined McLaren for 2023.
Piastri went on to achieve what is widely considered the best rookie season since Lewis Hamilton in 2007. Once McLaren upgraded their 2023 challenger for the British Grand Prix, Piastri was able to demonstrate his remarkable talents for the rest of the season - including a maiden Sprint victory ahead of the then-dominant Max Verstappen in Qatar.
In 2024, the rise continued as he achieved maiden wins at the Hungarian and Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the latter involved enduring a race-long battle against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Piastri was also the only driver to complete every racing lap of the 2024 season – a feat that helped McLaren secure a first Constructors’ title in over twenty years.
2025 provides opportunities to reward Piastri’s commendable talents, which could disrupt Norris’ comfy leading status as McLaren – a prospect that would please Piastri’s manager Mark Webber (ex-Red Bull teammate to Sebastian Vettel). With impeccable speed and a developed wiseness of racing, as demonstrated in Bahrain, there is no reason why Piastri couldn’t take a Championship fight with Norris all the way.
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