Bahrain – Qualifications: A Major First for Charles Leclerc!

During the first part of the qualifications, Ferrari confirmed its good form by monopolizing the top two spots. The session was marked by an investigation into Romain Grosjean. Indeed, the Frenchman was very slow in the last corner to prepare for his first flying lap. However, Lando Norris was coming at full speed and was hindered by the Haas driver.

In Australia, Pierre Gasly had been caught out at the end of Q1. Fifteen days later, another top driver was caught out, namely Nico Hülkenberg and his Renault, which was not able to do better than 17th while Daniel Ricciardo saved himself on his very last attempt. The German finished behind the Sauber of Antonio Giovinazzi, who lost the internal battle within the Swiss team as Kimi Räikkönen finished 15th.

Besides the two Williams, who were definitely stuck at the back, it was Lance Stroll who couldn’t make it out of Q1 while his teammate Sergio Perez managed to bring his Racing Point to 13th position.

The Q1 eliminations: Antonio Giovinazzi, Nico Hülkenberg, Lance Stroll, George Russell, and Robert Kubica.

For Q2, Ferrari attempted a slightly unusual strategy by leaving the pits after the rest of the field. However, the Italian team wasn’t the only one with this idea, and both drivers found themselves in a group of cars. While Charles Leclerc had no trouble setting the fastest time of the session, Sebastian Vettel got somewhat caught out. As a result, the German could only manage the 6th fastest time on his first attempt, which forced him to make an additional run. He then moved up to second place but was still three-tenths behind the Monegasque.

The disappointment of this Q2 is Pierre Gasly, only 12th in the Middle Eastern night, and more than four-tenths behind his teammate, Max Verstappen. Renault’s weekend looks to be quite challenging as Daniel Ricciardo was unable to make it into the top 10, ending up in 11th place while Kimi Räikkönen managed to make another appearance in the final part of the season.

Within the battle between teammates, it was Alex Albon who came out on top at Toro Rosso, finishing 11th while Daniil Kvyat ended up 15th and Sergio Perez finished 14th.

The drivers eliminated in Q2 are: Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez, and Daniil Kvyat.

The second run in Q2 by Sebastian Vettel had effects on the rest of the session since the German was unable to complete a single lap in Q3 due to a lack of fresh tires. Max Verstappen was in the same situation for different reasons: the Dutchman’s mechanics had to work between the two parts.

Dominant since the beginning of the season, Charles Leclerc did not falter when it mattered. He clocked the best lap on his first attempt. A small nod to history: he achieved exactly the same time as Sebastian Vettel’s pole position last year! But on his second attempt, he wanted to do even better, even though he was already guaranteed to start in the lead since Sebastian Vettel was in 2nd place and the two Mercedes had not improved.

Max Verstappen managed to honor his rank, in 5th position, just five-thousandths ahead of the surprising Kevin Magnussen. In front of Fernando Alonso’s eyes, Carlos Sainz was determined to shine, setting the 7th fastest time while Lando Norris finished 10th.

We can only already project ourselves towards the first corner tomorrow and see Sebastian Vettel’s attitude if he ends up fighting with his young teammate.

Q3 CLASSIFICATION: That’s @ScuderiaFerrari‘s 62nd front-row lock out 👏#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Zkg26zRbyt

— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 mars 2019