“Championship leader soon”: Fans react as Oscar Piastri snatches pole in Bahrain

Earlier on Saturday, April 12, Oscar Piastri crossed the line at the end of the third qualifying session at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir to take pole position for the main race. This is the Australian driver's second pole of the season, after scoring the same result for the Chinese Grand Prix. Piastri put in a time of 1:29.841, beating out Mercedes' George Russell by 0.168 seconds to start in front for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

McLaren took to its X (formerly Twitter) account soon after its driver attained success to celebrate the achievement.

"Our pole sitter ☝️ "

Fans shared their excitement for the race in the comments section and also celebrated Piastri's strong performance in the qualifying session.

One fan shared their belief that since the 24-year-old driver out-qualified his teammate, Lando Norris, who is the current championship leader, as well as Max Verstappen, who is one point away from Norris in the standings, that Piastri could be leading the fight for the Championship title soon.

"Oscar Piastri will be championship leader soon🔥"

Others echoed similar thoughts, cheering on the young driver.

"Number one driver. No more questions," a fan wrote.

"This is a real champion 🚀," another said.

A few fans of the driver took the post as an opportunity to voice their feelings towards McLaren, suggesting that they should prioritize the Aussie driver over his teammate.

"Your world champion this year if you stop favoring your 2nd best driver"

"Prioritize him he's a WDC material," a fan replied.

"Are you starting to realize this is your number one driver yet," another asked.

Behind Oscar Piastri and George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, and Yuki Tsunoda make up the top 10 drivers starting on the grid for tomorrow's race. Although Russell and Antonelli have both since been handed a one-place grid penalty.

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Oscar Piastri jokes that his pole position for Bahrain GP is "useful"

Taking to his Instagram account, the pole sitter for the Bahrain GP shared a few images of himself after he crossed the line in Q3 to start in first place at the race this Sunday, as well as a caption showing off his enthusiasm to compete. Oscar Piastri will be starting in pole for his 50th Grand Prix, making the event a momentous occasion in his career.

"Useful place to start. Excited to go racing"

Piastri's pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix converted into his first victory of the season, as well as the third of his time in F1. At the season opener in Australia, despite starting on the front row in second place, the McLaren driver crossed the line to take ninth. Last weekend, at the Japanese Grand Prix, he started in third and finished in third.

Currently, Oscar Piastri has accumulated 49 points and sits in third place in the championship standings.