Dark. Dry. Air +18C, highway +22…21C
The first qualifying of the season is a kind of moment of truth, summarizing the first results of the teams’ work after the off-season. And although there were no major changes in regulations this time, everyone expected changes in the balance of power.
During the training, everything turned out not to be quite as usual in recent years. Ricciardo and Hamilton were in the lead on Thursday, and Sainz set the best time on Friday afternoon.
Pirelli brought three tough compounds to the podium: C1, C2 and C3 in the Hard, Medium and Soft roles. The hard tires had no grip; the soft one had a clear speed advantage over the medium.
In the first session The Ferrari and Alpine drivers made their first attempt on Medium and saved the Soft kit – Sainz showed the best time in these four, and Gasly had to have his lap time deleted as he went off track.
Soon, after missing the first attempt, the rest left too – all on Soft. Traffic was in the way, but even on soft tires Sainz was the fastest and completed a lap in 1:29.909. 19 cars can fit in one second. Bottas, Zhou, Sargent, Ocon and Gasly dropped out of further competition.
In the second session everyone went to Soft. Magnussen’s time was removed for violation. Russell drove one lap slower than allowed by the rules – the stewards reviewed this incident but did not penalize the driver.
In the decisive attempt, Leclerc set the fastest time, completing a lap of 1:29.165. The first ten passes in one second. Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon, Ricciardo and Magnussen did not qualify for the final.
In the final Verstappen topped the timesheet on the first attempt with 1:29.421. Leclerc was only six hundredths behind him. Alonso missed the first attempt, drove onto the already open track moments later and finished third – tenth behind Max.
In the decisive attempt, Verstappen improved and completed a lap in 1:29.179, which was more than anyone could achieve.
Max Verstappen won qualifying in Bahrain and took his 33rd pole of his career. Charles Leclerc will share the front row of the grid with him, Russell and Sainz will start from second, Perez and Alonso will start from third.
Qualifying results
| Pilot | Team | 1 session | Session 2 | Session 3 | ||||||
| M | Time | Kr | M | Time | Kr | M | Time | Kr | ||
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 3 | 1:30,031 | 6 | 2 | 1:29,374 | 5 | 1 | 1:29,179 | 6 |
| 2. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 7 | 1:30,243 | 7 | 1 | 1:29,165 | 6 | 2 | 1:29,407 | 6 |
| 3. D. Russell | Mercedes | 8 | 1:30,350 | 5 | 7 | 1:29,922 | 6 | 3 | 1:29,485 | 6 |
| 4. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1 | 1:29,909 | 6 | 3 | 1:29,573 | 6 | 4 | 1:29,507 | 6 |
| 5. C. Perez | Red Bull | 6 | 1:30,221 | 6 | 8 | 1:29,932 | 5 | 5 | 1:29,537 | 6 |
| 6. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 5 | 1:30,179 | 5 | 5 | 1:29,801 | 6 | 6 | 1:29,542 | 3 |
| 7. L.Norris | McLaren | 4 | 1:30.143 | 4 | 9 | 1:29,941 | 5 | 7 | 1:29,614 | 6 |
| 8. O. Piastri | McLaren | 12 | 1:30,531 | 6 | 10 | 1:30.122 | 6 | 8 | 1:29,683 | 6 |
| 9. L.Hamilton | Mercedes | 10 | 1:30,451 | 6 | 4 | 1:29,718 | 6 | 9 | 1:29,710 | 6 |
| 10. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | 14 | 1:30,566 | 6 | 6 | 1:29,851 | 6 | 10 | 1:30,502 | 6 |
| 11. Yu.Tsunoda | RB | eleven | 1:30,481 | 6 | eleven | 1:30,129 | 6 | |||
| 12. L. Walk | Aston Martin | 2 | 1:29.965 | 6 | 12 | 1:30,200 | 6 | |||
| 13. A. Elbon | Williams | 9 | 1:30,397 | 6 | 13 | 1:30,221 | 6 | |||
| 14. D. Ricciardo | RB | 13 | 1:30,562 | 6 | 14 | 1:30,278 | 6 | |||
| 15. K.Magnussen | Hare | 15 | 1:30,646 | 6 | 15 | 1:30,529 | 6 | |||
| 16. V. Bottas | Sauber | 16 | 1:30,756 | 6 | ||||||
| 17. G.Zhou | Sauber | 17 | 1:30,757 | 6 | ||||||
| 18. L. Sargent | Williams | 18 | 1:30,770 | 6 | ||||||
| 19. E. Okon | Alps | 19 | 1:30,793 | 9 | ||||||
| 20. P. Gasly | Alps | 20 | 1:30.948 | 9 | ||||||
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
