Oscar Piastri of McLaren was unstoppable as he cruised to victory on Sunday at the Bahrain GP. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
Oscar Piastri’s win at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday evening painted a picture that already looked so vivid; one that tells a story of Papaya dominance for the foreseeable future.
The win has put him just three points behind teammate Lando Norris, who leads the world drivers' championship standings at 77 points. The fight for this year’s drivers' title now seems to be happening inside team McLaren, with both drivers showing unstoppable pace since the get-go in Australia.
When it comes to the constructor title, McLaren have not yet lifted their foot off the opponents neck and don’t look like they will any time soon.
Mercedes will need to win a good few races if they want to bridge the gap between them and first place, which is currently 35 points.
Norris had to settle for a P3 finish but still made his fourth consecutive podium finish and took away those vital points to keep his debut title shot alive and thriving. The young Brit was always touted as McLaren’s lead driver but with Piastri racking up his second win in his debut season, Norris is going to have to fight harder than he thought he would.
What makes it even more interesting is the fact that both Piastri and Norris drive the exact same car and can only rely on their capabilities to take home their first World Title.
Piastri will no doubt seal his name in the history books if he can claim a World Title in his first season in the sport.
“I can’t thank the team enough for the car they’ve given us – it’s pretty handy out there. It’s been a great weekend, and I’m very proud of what I’ve done this weekend as well.
“I’m very proud to do it here in Bahrain as well, it’s obviously a very important race for us given our owners. It’s never been a track that’s been kind to us, so it’s nice to finally have that first win for the team here,” Piastri said.
Not too far away from them, and also with a hot rookie worthy of a title, is Toto Wolf and his Silver Arrows. George Russell put up another solid driver in the W16 to finish the podium in third place. It's Russell’s third P3 finish in four races and has put him fourth on the driver standings, six points away from Max Verstappen.
But if Red Bull continue to send their drivers out with the shoddy vehicle they call the RB21, it's only a matter of time before Russell overtakes Verstappen in the standings. Mercedes look like the only real threat to McLaren’s second straight constructor title and have their rookie Kimi Antonelli to thank as well as Russell.
Unlike Red Bull, who have put all their eggs in Verstappen’s basket at the expense of their second driver, Wolf’s decision to pull Antonelli into the fold is already paying dividends [something the Austrian billionaire is used to].
Antonelli missed the points in Bahrain though, and had to settle for a P11 finish, giving McLaren more slack to run away with the title. Midway through the Bahrain race, Antonelli overtook Verstappen, which was no doubt a special moment for the Italian and the sport in general, signalling the coming of a new champion.
Ferrari showed up with some pace after fitting their new parts this weekend, Charles Le Clerc and Lewis Hamilton taking P4 and P5 respectively. It's nowhere near where they need to be if they want to even catch a glimpse of the Mercedes tail lights, let alone McLaren.
Regardless, Bahrain was a step up for Ferrari who has lacks pace this season.