F1 News – Verstappen seals Bahrain pole ahead of Leclerc

Bahrain Grand Prix – Max Verstappen took pole for the opening race of the season with a comfortable gap to the rest of the field.

Q1

As the first qualifying of the season kicked off under the lights in Bahrain, the Ferraris and Alpines took to the track as soon as the session started. Carlos Sainz opened the timesheets with a 1:31.208, Charles Leclerc slotting in half a tenth behind, all four cars on track were on medium tyres.

Qualifying Results – 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had set times 0.7 and 1.2 seconds slower but Gasly’s time was soon deleted due to a T13 track limit violation. As the Ferrari and Alpine drivers returned to the pits, the rest of the field started to emerge at the same time leading to a traffic jam at pit exit as drivers tried to give themselves a gap to the car in front.

The sixteen emerging cars all headed out on softs while the early runners did a quick tyre change to bolt on softs and make it a full complement of 20 cars circulating. After everyone had put a time on the board, it was reigning champion Max Verstappen on top with a 1:30.031, just over a tenth ahead of Lando Norris while Fernando Alonso was a few hundredths further back.

With six minutes to go Sainz retook the top spot with his first soft-shod run to bring the time down to a 1:29.909. The track went silent again with just four and a half minutes to go as everyone retreated back to the pits but the silence didn’t last for long as the bright green Sauber of Zhou Guanyu led the way back out while, once again, the queue to leave the pit exit went at a snail’s pace.

At that stage the Saubers, Alpines and Kevin Magnussen were in the drop zone. Sergio Perez and Gasly were the last to make it out and had to push in order to make it to the line before the chequered flag. 

Sainz was the only driver to remain in his garage and his time wasn’t challenged, Lance Stroll got close though as he slotted into P2 just 0.056 seconds off the Ferrari’s time. Magnussen managed to make it to P15 while the Saubers and Alpines were joined by Logan Sargeant in the bottom five spots.

Q2

Nobody seemed overly eager to head out at the start of Q2, and the circuit remained deserted for the first couple of minutes before the Haas cars started the slow-moving train exiting the pits. All cars were on soft tyres again.

Nico Hulkenberg kicked things off with a 1:30.997 and after everyone had set a lap it was Verstappen leading Perez and Norris, the Dutch driver with a 1:29.374 with the other two half a second off in the 1:29.9s.

All cars returned to the pits before their final run and the drivers outside the top ten were the Haases, RBs and Alex Albon. Hulkenberg was the first to head back out with four and a half minutes to go while the pit lane carpark made a reappearance, with less cars though everyone managed to get out with enough time for a proper out lap.

Hulkenberg put in a fantastic final lap to see him jump from the drop zone to P2, though he did get shuffled back a few places as other cars set their final time. The Ferraris put in good times to move up, Leclerc took P1 with a 1:29.165 while Sainz slotted in two tenths behind Verstappen.

Yuki Tsunoda just missed out, finishing 0.007 seconds off Oscar Piastri’s P10 time, and the Japanese driver was joined in the elimination positions by Stroll, Albon, Daniel Ricciardo and Magnussen.

Q3

Hulkenberg was once again the first on track as the final part of qualifying started, and opened with a 1:30.502 and, once all drivers on track had set times, he was in P8 while Verstappen was on top with a 1:29.421. Leclerc was half a tenth back in P2 while was just over a tenth further back in P3.

As the other nine headed back to the pits, Alonso had the track to himself as he headed out for his only run. The others started emerging as the Aston Martin racer was halfway through his timed lap, a lap which put him into P3, a 1:29.542.

Verstappen improved to a 1:29.179 on his last effort, and ended just over a quarter of a second up on Leclerc in P2, Russell took P3 ahead of Sainz while Perez slotted into P5 ahead of Alonso. The McLaren’s took P7 and P8, Norris as the last driver within half a second of Verstappen. Hamilton will start P9 with Hulkenberg alongside him on row 5.

The post Verstappen seals Bahrain pole ahead of Leclerc appeared first on FormulaSpy.