World champion Max Verstappen overtook Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
Pérez beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to complete second, .138 seconds behind Verstappen underneath floodlights on the desert monitor at Sakhir.
“Very happy to be on pole. It’s amazing and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” “We showed really good race pace but we need to show that (on Sunday).”
Looking forward to the race, Verstappen stated, “Hopefully no crazy things will happen.”
Last yr in Bahrain, Verstappen was chasing Leclerc when he retired simply laps from the tip and Ferrari took a 1-2 lead via Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.
Leclerc was .292 behind Verstappen in qualifying and begins on the second row alongside Sainz.
“We were in the fight (for pole), which I probably didn’t expect. It’s a nice surprise,” stated Leclerc. “Actually, they (Red Bull) appear very fast. We have taken a step ahead however I do not assume it’s sufficient.
Leclerc posted solely as soon as in Q3 and did not take the final shot at pole to save lots of tires for Sunday.
“We need to keep it in our mind that in the race of the race, we seem to be on the backfoot a little bit compared to Red Bull,” he stated. “I think we are in a better place in third place with the new tire than starting with the old or a little further up.”
Fernando Alonso confirmed good tempo for Aston Martin because the 41-year-old Spaniard completed fifth, adopted by Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll was eighth.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and new Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the highest 10.
A bit got here off Leclerc’s automobile six minutes after the primary run, often known as Q1, introduced out a purple flag throughout monitor cleansing.
Leclerc stated of the incident, “In lock-up I was very optimistic going into Turn 1.”
Alonso led Friday’s second observe forward of the 2 Red Bulls, elevating hopes he might problem for pole. Expectations remained excessive after topping third observe, with Verstappen 0.005 seconds behind and Pérez .106 behind.
“I was really positively surprised after the struggles I had in practice,” Verstappen stated. “It’s positive, and our race car is better.”
Alonso was even faster than Verstappen on his first runs in Q1 underneath the management of Sainz.
Stroll handed Leclerc on the finish of the second quarter to go McLaren’s Lando Norris for eleventh.
After lacking pre-season testing as a consequence of accidents sustained in a biking accident, Stroll’s return behind the wheel so rapidly stunned many observers. He required minor surgical procedure on his proper wrist.
F1 newcomer Logan Sargent, the primary American driver on the grid since 2015, was sixteenth for Williams. He moved up from final on his final lap and narrowly escaped in Q2, being edged by McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Veteran Kevin Magnussen completed seventeenth for Haas; New McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was 18th, adopted by AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries. Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who has gained an F1 race, had a heart-wrenching end in his Alpine debut.
third train
Hamilton was fourth forward of Leclerc and Russell in P3.
Hamilton appeared pissed off together with his group when he didn’t return on time for the beginning of observe.
“Come on man. That’s twice now,” stated Hamilton, whose automobile was pushed again into the storage.
Hamilton didn’t win a race final yr for the primary time in his 16-year profession.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
