Bahrain Grand Prix – Qualifying: Max Verstappen takes the first pole of the year, followed by Charles Leclerc

It’s time for the first qualifying session of the year. The serious things are finally starting in Bahrain: it’s no longer about cheating and hiding the true potential of the car. All eyes are on Red Bull, which seemed to hold back during the Free Practice sessions in Sakhir. So we can’t wait to see where the reigning world champion team actually stands. Especially since the track conditions for these qualifications will be very similar to those for the race tomorrow.

Q1

The Ferraris are the first to take to the track, followed by the Alpines, who finished at the bottom of the standings during Free Practice. All are on medium tires. Carlos Sainz sets the fastest time at 1.31:208, while his teammate is 0.052 seconds behind. Esteban Ocon comes next, also close, then Pierre Gasly, with a bigger delay… Before his time is deleted for not respecting track limits. Off to a good start.

The rest of the grid then gradually takes to the track. Nico Hülkenberg and Alex Albon temporarily take the lead. Then it’s Lando Norris who sets the fastest lap… Before Max Verstappen is more than a tenth of a second faster than him. Red Bull is starting to show its true colors. But Sainz is not done yet, with 1:29.909. We are now entering the final three minutes of the session and there is a lot of activity in the pit lane. At the end of Q1, the two Alpines, the two Kick Saubers, and Logan Sargeant in Williams are eliminated. As expected, the French team is the slowest in qualifications. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly complains about a poor pit stop. It is not certain that it was decisive…

Note that Russell was pinned by the commissioners for failing to reach the minimum lap time, but since he was seen deviating from the path of faster cars, he might get away with it. Speaking of Mercedes, Hamilton struggled in both runs and had to use two extra sets of tires. To be continued in Q2…

The eliminated from Q1: Pierre Gasly (20th), Esteban Ocon (19th), Logan Sargeant (18th), Zhou Guanyu (17th), Valtteri Bottas (16th).

Q2

We do not waste time and we dive straight into the action on the track with Red Bull, Aston Martin, McLaren, Haas, and Albon’s Williams. Several drivers are using worn tires: Ricciardo, Norris, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Albon, Hamilton, Sainz, Russell, and Piastri. Norris sets the fastest time at 1:29.941, performing better than in Q1. Sainz is nearly 5 tenths slower. Red Bull takes the lead, with Verstappen at the top, an impressive 0.558s ahead of his teammate, with a time of 1:29.374. Lando Norris is third and Charles Leclerc is 4th, followed by Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton managed to slightly improve his time, while George Russell lost 3 tenths. With 5 minutes left, both Haas, both V-CARBs, and the remaining Williams are eliminated. But everything is still up for grabs.

At the end of the Q2 session, Albon climbs up to 8th, Stroll also moves up to 8th while Ricciardo improves to the 10th time. Then Sainz records the 2nd time, less than 2 tenths behind Verstappen. Leclerc clinches the best time, 2 tenths faster than the Dutchman, a big surprise of this Q2. Leclerc’s best time included purple sectors in the middle and at the end of the lap, with Verstappen being the fastest in the first sector.

On the Mercedes side, Russell climbs from 15th to 6th place, while Hamilton posts the 4th best time. A little relief for the seven-time world champion, who struggled this Friday after a tough FP2 session on Thursday. Another surprise of the day: the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg is qualified for Q3.

The eliminated from Q2: Kevin Magnussen (15th), Daniel Ricciardo (14th), Alex Albon (13th), Lance Stroll (12th), Yuki Tsunoda (11th).

Q3

The tension rises a notch for the last ten minutes of the qualifying session, as the temperature drops a bit. Everyone is on soft tires, and it’s time to show the true and full performance of the car. It starts badly for Russell, who goes very wide at Turn 4 and could see his time deleted. In the meantime, he places first with a time of 1:29.603, before Verstappen outdoes him with 1:29.421, a little slower than his best lap in Q2. Leclerc takes second place, just 0.059 seconds behind. Russell follows him, then comes Sainz. Note that the top four drivers are separated by less than two tenths for this first attempt in Q3.

We are entering the last 5 minutes of qualifying and Fernando Alonso, who was dead last, improves his time, sets the best second sector and moves up to third place, ahead of Russell. Oscar Piastri, now last, also improves and moves up to 7th. Norris sets the record for the second sector but remains in 6th place.

Max Verstappen is purple in the first sector, well positioned for this final lap. He also improves his second sector, and remains in first place, with a time of 1:29.179. He therefore takes the first pole position of the year. Charles Leclerc remains 2nd and Carlos Sainz moves up to fourth. Russell has significantly improved his time and is the third fastest in this session. Perez (5th), Alonso (6th), Norris (7th), Piastri (8th), Hamilton (9th) and Hülkenberg (10th) follow in that order.

Qualifying classification for the Bahrain Grand Prix