00:00It's time to look to the five red lights and the Bahrain Grand Prix is underway.
00:07We're racing down to turn number one. Instant launch off the line for George Russell.
00:11It's a battle for P2 at the moment. Can Russell get alongside Piastri?
00:14Piastri with Russell getting close to him, but not close enough.
00:18Piastri leads, Russell up to second. Lando Norris is charging through from sixth on the grid
00:23using the soft tire. It's surely going to be third by the time he gets to turn four.
00:27What a turnaround for him. He's managed to get past so many from sixth. Will it be third?
00:32He'll have the grip advantage at this stage and Lando Norris gets the first lap of dreams.
00:38He's now back in contention to win this Grand Prix as Antonelli and Piastri side by side,
00:44Italian teenager off the road and Gasly wins that battle, but he lost a place off the line.
00:49Piastri, Russell, Norris, Leclerc and Gasly your top five.
00:54Lando is over his red box.
00:56There's a five-second penalty for Lando Norris. He was too far forward in his grid box.
01:03DRS wide open and, well, dropping the Red Bull behind and a late lunge.
01:09Whoa, from downtown.
01:11That's a screamer. So that was Antonelli on Sainz and it is an absolute screamer of a pass.
01:17I love a late lunge. I love an aggressive move like that. And it puts Sainz off line.
01:22And then this was Verstappen trying to come through round the outside at four. It's a bold attempt.
01:27And Sainz was actually very kind to him, allowing Max to have the outside line for six.
01:32It looked like that was never going to come off, but Carlos eased out of it.
01:38These brakes are so consistent. It's so annoying.
01:42Not much we can do now.
01:44Whoa! Defensive shape thrown and Lewis Hamilton committed to get by.
01:50That's a move that was good enough for eighth place on the way in.
01:55But Sainz this time keeps his foot to the floor through the sweepers.
01:58Hamilton's still in the battle for this one. He's on the medium tyre.
02:02Sainz was replaced by the seven-time world champion in this team.
02:05And this one's a little bit personal, but Hamilton's got the traction.
02:09Has he got the superior tyre? It's a long way round as you go down to turn number 10.
02:15And Sainz defends the place. Still P8.
02:17So as I was saying, it's not going to be a boring race.
02:20They're getting stuck in right away. And this is going to continue
02:24all the way down the back straight. DRS advantage for Hamilton.
02:28And Hamilton gets it done into turn 11. But was there a wiggle that sends him wide?
02:32No, he's got the place done. There was a wiggle that sent Sainz wide.
02:35And Yuki Tsunoda says, thank you very much. I'll have P9.
02:41And Tonelli looking for another move, looking for another late lunge.
02:46Gasly knew it was coming. Positions the car to the inside.
02:49The star of qualifying yesterday, Pierre Gasly taking a car that hasn't scored a point all year
02:55to the top four on the grid. Still trying to keep the Mercedes man behind as his teammate
03:00Jack Doohan pits. Antonelli carving him up at the moment. And Antonelli taking the place
03:05for Mercedes as he improves to P5.
03:10This is Oliver Bearman, the young British driver who's been on these hard tyres for seven laps.
03:16He's fighting up against Hadjar. He's had those mediums on for 15.
03:20So it's about positioning your car to use the grip. Send it the long way round and take the position.
03:26Oliver Bearman.
03:29Hamilton clears Max Verstappen. No fireworks compared to what we've seen before from these two,
03:35notably around this race track in 2021.
03:39Charles Leclerc is closing in on Lando Norris. So Leclerc, who ran on the medium tyres at the start,
03:45is going to make this a three-car battle for second place. And that is late on the brakes.
03:49Great on the brakes, but only the position gained for a couple of metres for Charles Leclerc
03:54as Lando Norris stays calm.
03:58The clever thing for Leclerc is that he didn't panic because he brakes late and put more pressure.
04:03He didn't flat spot the tyres, so he's still got the tyres in good nick. Charles Leclerc gets up to
04:07third position.
04:08I thought Leclerc was heading to the airport there. He left the car long and straight before turning
04:13as he went way beyond the braking point, the overspeed with the DRS, but again, well managed with the extra
04:20grip,
04:20no under rotation, and he now has some clean air to hunt down Russell.
04:25As Charles Leclerc powered past Lando Norris, this was Lewis Hamilton taking seventh place from the Mercedes man
04:31who replaced him, Kimi Antonelli.
04:36Let's wait to see the Williams. It's another, oh my word, applying the power, Yuki Tsunoda nearly
04:42oversteering into Carlos Leclerc. They nearly made contact at turn one, on the way out, on the way in,
04:47and also at turn two. Unbelievably close, and it was, there was, contact between the two.
04:55Safety car, according to our graphic, is deployed, and we'll have a pause in the action.
05:00And out onto the circuit goes the Aston Martin to change things entirely.
05:06The green flag will fly once again at Bahrain International Circuit, and there's a battle now
05:12for third position because Charles Leclerc is under immediate pressure. He had a problem on the
05:17restart. He went wide. Lando Norris trying to improve. Hamilton trying to get involved as well.
05:21Piastri and then Russell at the front of the field. Norris can't get by. Can Hamilton go around the outside?
05:27It looked like he was in position to take P4. Hamilton got Norris on the restart. They're still
05:32fighting further back. Tsunoda got up to 10th position, and Oscar Piastri on the medium tyre was
05:37able to stave off the soft. Lando trying to retake the position away from Lewis Hamilton.
05:43He gets it back. Brilliant racing on the restart.
05:46Watch the white line. Does he overtake beyond the white line?
05:50He probably just does, doesn't he?
05:53It's an interesting call. If McLaren are going to give the place back, they've got to do it now.
05:57They do so right away. Into turn number four we go with Lando Norris in the McLaren,
06:04getting passed on the way in and the way out. Lando Norris improves to P3.
06:10Hard tyre versus medium tyre. This is the best opportunity that Lando Norris has had all the
06:15way through against Charles Leclerc and Charles Leclerc checks the mirror because he knows it.
06:19On board with Lando Norris trying to retake the championship lead by moving up. There's not a lot
06:24of room between the Ferrari and the McLaren, but Lando does it the long way round. All the way around
06:30the outside to third place in the race. Norris trying to get by. Can he make the move into turn
06:37number
06:38one? Does he need to make the move into turn number one? Side by side the two Brits go. Norris
06:43shuffled to the outside. Nothing between them. Now we apply the power. We climb the hill. Russell knows
06:48this is the last traditional overtaking opportunity around the racetrack and he positioned the Mercedes
06:54brilliantly. Norris can't get by. He'll have to get inventive as his teammate. He's heading to the flag.
07:00The Australian driver is at the final corner of the last lap. Piastri sees the checkered flag first.
07:06Oscar Piastri wins the Bahrain Grand Prix for just his fourth win in Formula One. And it will not be
07:15a McLaren 1-2 on the racetrack. George Russell hangs on and crosses the line to secure a third podium
07:24in four races for him. Gasly is trying to keep Max Verstappen at bay. Max Verstappen gets Pierre Gasly
07:32on the last lap and Verstappen improves to sixth position. McLaren are the men to beat in 2025 and
07:41there are others throwing punches. George Russell able to run with them all the way through. Max Verstappen
07:47when the car and circuit suit will still be a contender. But Piastri versus Norris is shaping up
07:53to be our narrative for the most important trophy at the end of the season.
07:57Marcus VerstappenSU119
07:57Mocer
07:58Mocer
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