Following his stunning victory in Shanghai and a P3 finish at Suzuka, Oscar Piastri has high hopes for McLaren heading into the F1 Bahrain GP.
The Woking-based team is intent on adding another win to its tally after failing to capitalise on their race weekend in Japan.
Starting from third on the grid, Piastri closed in on Lando Norris in the final stages of the race, and the latter began to cut into Max Verstappen’s advantage. However, with the pit wall playing it safe and the McLaren duo unable to mount a meaningful attack on the Dutchman, the four-time world champion emerged victorious at the end of 53 laps.
Like many others, Piastri proclaims that qualifying is key
Speaking in a pre-race press conference ahead of the F1 Bahrain GP on Thursday, Oscar Piastri reflected on their weekend in Japan and stated that qualifying ahead of Verstappen would’ve considerably increased their likelihood of securing a victory. Emphasising how difficult overtaking was on Sunday, he added that they needed a massive pace advantage to make a pass stick on track.
“Qualifying ahead of Max [Verstappen] was probably the key to that.
“Yeah, I mean, we looked through it. I think it was pretty clear to see that you needed a very big pace advantage to overtake on Sunday. The best way to overcome that was qualifying a bit better. But I think even in the race, we were pretty limited with what we could do.”
McLaren played it safe in Japan because it’s too early in the season for high risks
Despite having two drivers running in the top three at their disposal, McLaren weren’t audacious with their strategies at Suzuka. After Piastri stopped for hard tyres on lap 20, they pitted Norris on the next lap, the same as Verstappen, and missed their window for an undercut.
Meanwhile, although the Australian driver seemingly had more pace than Norris in the final 10 laps of the race, the reigning Constructors’ Champions refused to intervene, and Red Bull clinched their first victory of the season.
Addressing these scenarios, Piastri admitted that McLaren could’ve taken a different approach with regard to certain decisions. Nonetheless, explaining that the risk-to-reward ratio wasn’t favourable, especially this early in the season, the Australian added that maximising their potential in qualifying would automatically simplify their Sundays moving forward.
“We’ve spoken through a lot of the potential different scenarios we could have found ourselves in and what we actually could have done differently. And I think the conclusion from all of those was there was either a big element of risk with not much chance of reward.
“So I think there’s still some things we could have done a little bit differently to try. And I think as a team we acknowledge that.
“But also, just putting into perspective how early we are in the season and not giving away points unnecessarily to people behind us was important as well.
“So yeah, we’ve gone through a lot of things, but ultimately I think our conclusion was: make sure you qualify where you should be.”
McLaren have more advantage over race distance than in qualifying
Asked if they are considering Red Bull a bigger threat at the F1 Bahrain GP than they did in Japan, Oscar Piastri acknowledged that McLaren boast the fastest car at the moment. At the same time, he noted how their pace advantage isn’t substantial on Saturdays and that it’s imperative for them to put their best foot forward in qualifying to capitalise on their race pace.
“I don’t think it changes much. I think we have the quickest car at the moment. But our advantage is not enough to be careless and kind of lay back and not execute as best as you can.
“We saw Melbourne was a very strong weekend for us, but we also got the most out of the car and both of us felt we drove very well. I think China in the Sprint—Sprint quali, Lando [Norris] went on pole—and I think China and Japan have both shown that it doesn’t take much to go wrong for us to not be at the front.
“We have an advantage in the race for sure, but in qualifying you have to still be on it because the gap is not much still. As we saw in Japan, Max put in a good performance and it was enough to be better than us.
“So I think that’s just another demonstration that it’s going to be tight the whole year and we’ve got to be in our best form.”
Piastri implies McLaren would’ve built a gap if they had started ahead in Japan
Following his triumphant weekend in Japan, Verstappen had remarked that he would have flown off into the distance if he were driving the MCL39.
With regard to how he read that statement, Oscar Piastri admitted that he simply perceives it as a cheeky joke. At the same time, reiterating the importance of track position, the 24-year-old commented that the outcome would’ve been different if the McLarens had managed to qualify ahead of the Dutchman at Suzuka.
Stating how they were unable to overtake Verstappen despite having the faster car and following close behind, Piastri implied that the McLaren drivers would’ve been able to build a gap if their starting positions were altered.
“I mean, yes. But I think if Max had qualified third and we were first and second, it probably would have looked quite different as well.
“Yeah, I think it was light-hearted. But I think qualifying made a very big difference. I don’t think it’s normal to have two cars sitting two seconds behind the leader for 50 laps. It was kind of clear to see that our car was quicker.
“But yeah, I think the gaps would have been quite different if it had been the other way around from the start as well.”
Warmer conditions in Bahrain might play in McLaren’s favour
In terms of whether he expects McLaren to have an edge given the high tyre degradation that teams experience at the F1 Bahrain GP, Oscar Piastri conceded that he expects the Woking-based outfit to fare better than others if the warmer conditions prevail at Sakhir.
“Hard to know. I think Melbourne, especially on the Inters, was a very good race and a good show of pace. But managing the tyres—I think Japan, if we had track position, potentially the race could have looked quite different. We’ll have to wait and see.
“Obviously it’s very hot today. I think Sunday is supposed to be a little bit cooler, but it being a little bit more difficult on tyres and a bit warmer probably will be more friendly for us than others, I hope.”
Piastri declares McLaren are in a position to win on Sunday
Although McLaren’s performance in Bahrain has been rather underwhelming in recent years, their long runs looked particularly strong in 2025 pre-season testing.
With regard to whether the F1 Bahrain GP would be a litmus test of where their advantages lie and how far ahead they are of Red Bull, Piastri admitted that this race weekend would help them gauge how far they have come since testing.
Despite the hotter track conditions that teams will endure this weekend, the three-time race winner referred to their data from pre-season testing and confidently declared that he expects a McLaren driver to lift the biggest trophy on Sunday.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. This has not been a great track for us in the past couple of years. Well, I think even longer than that, to be honest. So I think it will be a good test for us.
“There were certainly strong points from the test that we were happy with. There were certainly not-so-strong points that we’ve done a lot of work to try and improve from the test as well. So it will be a good test for us.
“I think, you know, on paper the layout is still—this car is not a completely different beast to what we’ve had the last couple of years. So there are still parts of this layout that, if you were to draw a perfect layout for the car, it probably still wouldn’t look like this.
“But I think we’re as confident as we have been in my time at the team. We are in a position to win this weekend, and I think we have some evidence from testing that we’re in a good place. But yeah, it’s also about 20 degrees hotter than testing, which is going to change things as well.”
Piastri confident upcoming flexi wings TD won’t hurt McLaren
An updated version of the technical directive TD018 will see teams having to face tougher flexi wing tests, with these checks set to be introduced at the Spanish GP in June.
Asked if there is any truth to Red Bull’s claims that this clampdown would particularly clip McLaren’s wings, Oscar Piastri rubbished the speculation and asserted that he expects the British team to maintain its competitive streak throughout the season.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll be strong all year. I don’t think it’ll change too much.
“I’ve not spoken to the team about it massively, in all honesty, which probably tells you enough about that.
“So yeah, let’s see when we get to Spain. But we’ve still got a lot of races until then and I think we’ll be a strong team all year round.”
