Bahrain Quali: LeClerc takes Pole
A thrilling Quali session in Bahrain saw Charles Leclerc take his tenth F1 pole position. He was ahead of second-placed Max Verstappen, which leaves the the race finely poised in what looks to be a tight battle. Sainz in the other Ferrari was P3.
Mighty Ferrari at Bahrain Quali
Leclerc was 0.123 seconds faster than Red Bull’s Verstappen while Carlos Sainz will start third on the grid in the second Ferrari.
“It feels good! The last two years have been incredibly difficult for the team,” said Leclerc, who took the 10th Formula One pole of his career.
“I think we have worked extremely well as a team, very happy with today. I wasn’t completely happy with my driving but managed to do that lap in Q3 and we start from pole, so very happy.”
Red Bull close but not quite
Max Verstappen did prevent a Ferrari front-row lockout, with Carlos Sainz Jr slotting into third having held provisional pole during the first laps in the shootout session.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez secured fourth to leave Lewis Hamilton leading the Mercedes charge in fifth but 0.680s off Leclerc’s pole time.
Nightmare for Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton will start his Mercedes from fifth position, his worst qualifying result in Bahrain since 2009. And Daniel Ricciardo will begin from 18th – a brutal reality check of how far McLaren have fallen off the pace ahead of the new season.
Hamilton’s new Mercedes teammate George Russell was ninth fastest and Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri completed the top 10.
Surprise positive for HAAS and Alfa Romeo at Bahrain Quali
Valtteri Bottas came sixth in his first qualifying session for Alfa Romeo since leaving Mercedes at the end of last season.
Kevin Magnussen, back at Haas after replacing Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, took seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso in his Alpine car. It was a massive boon for Haas, with both drivers making it into Q2 for the first time since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Nico Hulkenberg could only manage 17th in his first outing since October 2020 as a stand-in for Sebastian Vettel, the Alfa Romeo driver absent after testing positive for Covid-19.
Daniel Ricciardo struggled in his McLaren, qualifying 18th after missing last week’s pre-season testing for the same reason. That was five spots behind teammate Lando Norris.
Bahrain Quali : Starting Grid
