Oscar Piastri cruises to win at Bahrain Grand Prix, with Lando Norris third

In a race with plenty of drama, Oscar Piastri made sure to stay ahead of trouble.

Piastri took his second win of the Formula 1 season in dominant style at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, slashing the points gap to his teammate Lando Norris, who could only manage third after an eventful race.

Piastri started on pole and kept Mercedes’ George Russell behind him, fending off a challenge for the lead after a safety-car restart.

Russell held on to second after defending his position on the last lap from Norris, who had started sixth.

“It’s been an incredible weekend,” Piastri said after claiming McLaren’s first-ever win in Bahrain. “To finish the job today in style was nice.”

Norris keeps the lead of the championship with a three-point advantage over Piastri. Defending champion Max Verstappen, who finished sixth, is five points further back in third.

Chaotic race for Norris

Piastri had a no-drama run to the checkered flag, except for a drinks system which wasn’t working in the desert heat. Norris’ race was a roller-coaster.

Norris made up three places off the start but was then handed a five-second penalty for starting too far forward on his grid space. After going down as far as 14th, he made up places and won a lengthy battle with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton before falling short in his attempt to beat Russell for second.

“A messy race for me and disappointed not to bring home the one-two for McLaren,” Norris said.

Russell had to deal with electrical problems on his car and was facing an investigation into his use of the DRS overtake aid system. Russell said it had opened by accident when he pressed the button to use the radio but said he eased off and didn’t gain an advantage. The stewards agreed and didn’t give him a penalty.

Russell’s second place was the best result for Mercedes since Russell won the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.

Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari after losing a hard-fought battle to Norris while his teammate Hamilton started ninth but cut through the field to finish fifth.

A festival of overtaking

After last week’s race in Japan resembled a procession, with all of the top six finishing in the order they started, Bahrain offered a festival of overtaking.

Verstappen won last week but was never in contention in Bahrain and was even last at one stage. He survived an overheating car and a slow pit stop to place sixth, passing Pierre Gasly, who was seventh for Alpine.

Esteban Ocon of Haas was eighth, with Yuki Tsunoda ninth for his first points since joining Red Bull — and the team’s first for any driver other than Verstappen since November — and Oliver Bearman 10th in the other Haas.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing