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.

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.

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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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain stand on the podium after taking second place at the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia holds trophy after winning the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia wins the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Andrej Isakovic Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia wins the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Andrej Isakovic Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia wins the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Andrej Isakovic Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates winning the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Second placed Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, left, first-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, center, and thrid placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco pose after the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Seond-placed Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar of France3= congratulates pole position winner McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia reacts after winning the pole position during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran confirmed Wednesday that the next round of nuclear talks with the United States will be held in Rome after earlier confusion over where the negotiations would be held.

The announcement by Iranian state television came as Iran 's president formally approved the resignation of one of his vice presidents who served as Tehran's key negotiator in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, just as the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog arrived in the Islamic Republic on Wednesday.

President Masoud Pezeshkian's announcement late Tuesday regarding Mohammad Javad Zarif preceded the state TV announcement, which said Oman will again mediate the talks. Oman's foreign minister served as an interlocutor between the two sides at talks last weekend in Muscat, the sultanate's capital.

Officials initially on Monday identified Rome as hosting the negotiations, only for Iran to insist early Tuesday they would return to Oman. American officials so far haven’t said where the talks will be held, though Trump did call Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq on Tuesday while the ruler was on a trip to the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the visit by Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, may include negotiations over just what access his inspectors can get under any proposed deal.

The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Zarif served as a key supporter of Pezeshkian in his election last year but drew criticism from hard-liners within Iran's Shiite theocracy, who long have alleged Zarif gave away too much in negotiations.

In March, Zarif tendered his resignation to Pezeshkian. However, the president did not immediately respond to the letter. Zarif has used resignation announcements in the past in his political career as leverage, including in a dispute last year over the composition of Pezeshkian’s Cabinet. The president had rejected that resignation.

But on late Tuesday, a statement from the presidency said Pezeshkian wrote Zarif a letter praising him but accepting his resignation.

“Pezeshkian emphasized that due to certain issues, his administration can no longer benefit from Zarif’s valuable knowledge and expertise,” a statement from the presidency said.

The president in a decree appointed Mohsen Ismaili, 59, to be his new vice president for strategic affairs. In Iran's political system, the president has multiple vice presidents. Ismaili is known as a political moderate and a legal expert.

Grossi arrived in Tehran for meetings with Pezeshkian and others.

Since the nuclear deal’s collapse in 2018 with Trump's unilateral withdraw of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons, something the West and the IAEA have been worried about for years since Tehran abandoned an organized weapons program in 2003.

Any possible deal between Iran and the U.S. likely would need to rely on the IAEA's expertise to ensure Tehran's compliance. And despite tensions between Iran and the agency, its access has not been entirely revoked.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday warned the U.S. about taking contradictory stances in the talks.

That likely refers to comments from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who this week initially suggested a deal could see Iran go back to 3.67% uranium enrichment — like in the 2015 deal reached by the Obama administration. Witkoff then followed up with saying "a deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.”

“Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program,” he wrote on the social platform X. “It is imperative for the world that we create a tough, fair deal that will endure, and that is what President Trump has asked me to do.”

Araghchi warned America about taking any “contradictory and opposing stances” in the talks.

“Enrichment is a real and accepted issue, and we are ready for trust building about possible concerns," Araghchi said. But losing the right to enrich at all "is not negotiable.”

Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran.

FILE - US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, listens to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as they walk in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 14, 2015, during a bilateral meeting ahead of the next round of nuclear discussions. (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini, File)

FILE - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

FILE - Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif smiles during a meeting with students on a climate change forum at the Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University, in Santa Cruz Bolivia, on July 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)