Red Bull’s Max Verstappen stormed to the first pole position of the season for the Bahrain Grand Prix, a 33rd career pole for the Dutchman.
The reigning champion was 0.228s faster than closest rival Charles Leclerc. George Russell was third fastest ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez will start fifth from Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris.
F1 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix — Qualifying Results
FP3 saw 14 cars covered by just eight-tenths of a second setting up a thrilling first qualifying session of the 2024 season.
In a field covered by such fine margins, there was plenty of ground to be won and lost with the finest of mistakes proving to be costly.
It was a quiet start to Q1 with Ferrari and Alpine the only two teams to take to the circuit initially as most of the field opted to wait for the dirty track to be cleared.
With 10 minutes remaining, a first glimpse of the competitive pecking order was offered with all 20 cars on track fitted with the Soft compound.
It was advantage Max Verstappen initially, however, a second attempt and a slight tow for Sainz saw the Spaniard usurp the Dutchman by a tenth.
Only Sainz remained in the pits as drivers sought to profit on a cooling track. Ferrari displayed caution with Leclerc who was sent out on a fresh set of Soft tyres to the Monegasque’s disapproval only to bail on a final attempt.
Sainz ended Q1 fastest ahead of Lance Stroll, Verstappen, Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso. After impressing on Thursday, Mercedes were slipped towards the mid-order with George Russell 8th and Lewis Hamilton 10th.
It was a disappointing start to the campaign for both Sauber and Alpine who saw both of their drivers eliminated at the first time of asking. Valtteri Bottas will line-up 16th on Saturday ahead of Guanyu Zhou and the Williams’ Logan Sargeant. Eseban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will share the back row.
Verstappen reclaimed the advantage in Q2 as Verstappen dropped the benchmark to 1:29.374s on fresh rubber, half-a-second clear of team-mate Perez and the McLaren of Lando Norris.
A final attempt saw Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg briefly appear second fastest, displaying the substantial gains that could be found on a greener and cooler Bahrain International Circuit as Kevin Magnussen assumed ninth.
Leclerc snatched the top spot from Verstappen with a final effort of 1:29.165s with Sainz slotting into third.
Both Mercedes drivers were at risk of elimination when they took to the track but Hamilton would improve to fourth with Russell jumping to seventh.
Having been eliminated from Q2, Yuki Tsunoda will start 11th ahead of Stroll, Albon, Ricciardo and Magnussen.
The final phase of qualifying was a six-team affair as Nico Hulkenberg once again dragged his Haas into Q3 with Alonso the sole Aston Martin on display in Q3.
The initial efforts saw Verstappen on provisional pole but the Dutchman was narrowly followed by Leclerc who sat 0.059s adrift.
Improvements would follow as Alonso slipped into third after completing a single effort out of sync with the remainder of the field.
Verstappen was among those to find more pace as he claimed a 33rd career pole. Leclerc also improved but fell two-tenths short of Verstappen’s 1:29.179s. The Ferrari driver will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix second.
George Russell will lead Mercedes’ challenge on Saturday from third on the grid, three-tenths off the pace. Carlos Sainz wound up fourth fastest ahead of Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso. Positions three through six were separated by less than 0.050s.
Lando Norris leads an all-McLaren fourth row followed by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in ninth. Nico Hulkenberg rounds out the top ten.
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