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The danger of boredom (in)averted? Verstappen wins qualifying in Bahrain, followed by an extremely even field!

The new Formula 1 season has started, so to speak, where the last one left off. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has begun this year’s campaign towards another pole position record for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, F1
Zdroj: Mark Thompson, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

The new Formula 1 season has started, so to speak, where the last one left off. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has begun this year’s campaign towards another pole position record for the Bahrain Grand Prix. While the 26-year-old Red Bull driver beat second-placed Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari by more than two tenths of a second, the time differences between the rest of the top 10 suggest a dramatic spectacle in the grand prix itself.

The Bahrain Grand Prix has become almost a traditional opener to the new Formula One season in recent years. Although this desert event is still many years away from establishing the same custom as the popular Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park, the Sakhir circuit offers some interesting racing each year, especially enhanced by the dozens of floodlights shining under the dark evening sky.

A total of 27 hours of preparation was available to the 10 teams ahead of the very first serious test of the season. The final three of these, already part of the racing “weekend”, produced results that thrilled all unbiased fans of the sport.

The trio of practice runs were dominated by three different drivers. Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) dominated Thursday’s runs, while Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) took the small laurels for himself on Friday.

Slightly unexpectedly, Red Bull and the pairing of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez were in the lower positions of the top 10 with the other leading teams. The question after practice was therefore clear as to how many sandbags the heavily favoured combination inside the RB20 would carry with them…

Q1: The French disaster

The first car on Bahrain’s 5.4km track was the Ferrari of 29-year-old Sainz. The Spaniard’s first quick attempt of 1:31.208 took place on a medium, yellow-marked set of tyres. His teammate Charles Leclerc also wore the same tyres, but was about half a tenth of a second behind. Moments later, Pierre Gasly became the track’s premiere offender when he failed to correctly negotiate Turn 13.

A few minutes later, a group of red kit cars topped the running order, first led by Lando Norris, then Verstappen and finally Sainz with the first sub-1:30 time of the weekend, 1:29.909 to be precise.

This fastest attempt held the top position until the end of Q1. Sainz thus won the opening qualifying segment, with Lance Stroll taking second and world champion Verstappen finishing third.

Looking at the other end of the grid, a disastrous start to the season for the French Alpine stable. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will start Saturday’s grand prix from the very last row.

However, Ocon was just under nine tenths of a second behind the victorious Sainz in 19th! Along with the two Alpines, the two Sauber monoposts of Valtteri Bottas and Kuan-yu Zhou were also eliminated, along with the Williams of Logan Sargeant.

Q2: Hülkenberg again the qualifying champion

Red Bull started the middle part of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix best. Verstappen and teammate Pérez lined up first and second after their first attempts, with the Dutchman’s time of 1:29.374 beating the Mexican’s by more than half a second. At this point, things were mostly back to normal. The McLaren showed solid form, with Norris just a few hundredths of a second behind Pérez.

However, Verstappen did not retain his lead after the second attempt. Sainz, after his own attack, was behind the three-time champion, but Leclerc took the wind out of both their sails. The Monegasque set a time of 1:29.165, two tenths faster than Verstappen.

The top ten was traditionally occupied by the top five teams, with the exception of Nico Hülkenberg. The German Haas driver pulled his car up to sixth position, which prevented Stroll from fighting for pole position.

The Canadian will start the season opener from twelfth position. He missed out on progression to Q3 by just seven thousandths of a second to Team RB’s Júki Cunoda, formerly of AlphaTauri. Furthermore, Alexander Albon (Williams), Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) did not take part in the rest of the qualifying programme.

Q3: Verstappen the winner, business as usual?

Although last year’s dominator Verstappen stormed back into the lead after his first attempts in Q3, it was not a time devastating contest. Leclerc lost a miniscule 59 thousandths of a second to the Hasselt native. The other drivers weren’t far behind either, with Russell and Sainz creeping within two tenths of Verstappen.

While most drivers headed for the pits with around five minutes to go in Q3, a different strategy was adopted by Aston Martin and veteran Alonso. The 42-year-old double world champion had the track to himself for his attempt, which saw him shoot up to an exhilarating third position, just over a tenth off the top spot.

The final seconds of Q3 were very dramatic, but with a relatively expected and slightly disheartening ending for unbiased fans. Verstappen improved his first attempt by over two tenths of a second to a winning time of 1:29.179, with no other driver able to respond. Behind him, however, fans are promised a phenomenal battle for second place. Second Leclerc and ninth-placed Hamilton were separated by just three tenths of a second!

Verstappen claimed his 33rd pole position in Bahrain, equalling the career achievements of fellow F1 legends Jim Clark and Alain Prost. The Bahrain Grand Prix kicks off at 18:00 local time (16:00 our time) on Saturday. You can see the full results in the attached post below.

Source: F1

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