Oscar Piastri’s Bahrain Grand Prix victory shared one common trait with Michael Schumacher’s greatest F1 wins

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has a long way to go before he can start to be considered a Formula 1 legend.

Very few drivers ever reach that level of notoriety, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso on the current grid revered in this way, and Max Verstappen well on his way to joining that illustrious list of drivers, if he hasn’t done so already.

Virtually every Formula 1 fan asked to name the greatest drivers of all time would include Michael Schumacher on their list.

The seven-time world champion is currently the only driver to have won five titles on the bounce, although Verstappen could match that record this season.

One of the most likely drivers looking to stand in his way is Oscar Piastri.

Piastri only has 50 Grand Prix starts under his belt, but McLaren will have already recognised that they have two potential championship winners among their ranks, with Lando Norris currently leading the drivers’ standings.

Martin Brundle recently compared Piastri to Alain Prost, but his victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix shared a trait with how many of Schumacher’s victories played out when he was at the peak of his powers.

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Oscar Piastri’s Bahrain Grand Prix win reminiscent of Michael Schumacher’s great victories

Between 2000 and 2004, Schumacher won five of his seven world championships with Ferrari.

He spent years with the team before winning the third title of his career, but by the time he defeated Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, Ferrari were the dominant force in the sport.

One of the things that underpinned so many of Schumacher’s victories during that period was how little fans watching on television actually saw of the German.

So often, he would drive off into the distance, and the commentary would focus on other battles taking place during the race, and that happened in Bahrain with Piastri.

After the safety car, Piastri opened up a 15-second gap in just 22 laps.

Commentating on the Sky Sports F1 feed, David Croft said: “And out in front, Oscar Piastri has got this race completely sewn up.

“It could be a McLaren win for the first time here in Bahrain. I maintain Martin, bar one corner in the rain in Australia, and one corner in qualifying in Japan, Oscar Piastri could be a long way clear in the drivers’ championship.”

Martin Brundle added: “It looked pretty faultless. Flawless was the word his engineer used, and that was tremendous.

“He just had it covered any which way, Oscar.”

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Oscar Piastri already shares Michael Schumacher’s mentality when racing in Formula 1

Piastri will have to win virtually every race between now and the end of the 2028 F1 season to surpass Schumacher’s tally of 91 Grand Prix victories.

He’s showing a level of skill that means he should be a championship contender throughout his Formula 1 career as long as he’s in a competitive enough car.

Commentator James Allen was speaking on his podcast about Piastri and his relationship with his manager Mark Webber and said: “Mark Webber is actually quite a sensitive person, quite a vulnerable person and he had his moments when he was driving where you could see that he had a lot of self-doubt and he would be sometimes too open as well.

“But I think he tried to make himself be harder, make himself more Schumacher if you want, whereas actually Piastri has come out of the tin full Schumacher, that’s the way he is.

“It’s my way or the highway, he’s mentally incredibly strong, he’s extremely intelligent, certainly for me one of the most intelligent drivers out there on the grid, and that is quite a formidable combination once he finds that level of consistency.”

Piastri has a long way to go to be considered in the same realm as Schumacher.

But the level of superiority he demonstrated in Bahrain suggests that he has the potential to be a generational talent if things go his way over the next few seasons.