The Ferrari hype train is firmly on track as Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Qualifying saw an epic to and fro battle between the Italian team and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, but it is the Monegasque, who scored his first Formula 1 pole in Bahrain in 2019, who came out on top in a very tight Q3.
Q1
At the front, Ferrari issued an early statement of intent as Leclerc led teammate Sainz by 0.3s ahead of Verstappen in third.
After an improved final practice, Mercedes’ pace faded a little again down in ninth and 10th, as eight different teams sat in the top 10.
In the battle to reach Q2, Alex Albon got through at the expense of Yuki Tsunoda, who missed out by just 0.026s in 16th for AlphaTauri.
Super-sub Nico Hulkenberg out-qualified Lance Stroll as the two Aston Martins were eliminated in 17th and 19th.
Daniel Ricciardo’s tough start to the year continued in 18th, while Nicholas Latifi brought up the field in the Williams.
Q2
Verstappen responded to Ferrari in Q2, going fastest by just 0.030s from Sainz with less than half a second covering the top six.
Magnussen put Haas into Q3 in seventh, while a late lap from Pierre Gasly bumped Esteban Ocon down to P11 in the Alpine.
Mick Schumacher couldn’t replicate Magnussen’s pace in P12, as McLaren’s woes were compounded by Lando Norris in 13th.
Albon was 14th, while Zhou Guanyu had his last lap time deleted for track limits dropping the Alfa Romeo to 15th in his first F1 qualifying session.
Q3
The first runs saw Sainz lead Ferrari teammate Leclerc and Verstappen with just 0.056s covering the top three.
On the second lap though, the Monegasque responded setting a 1m30.558s to set a benchmark that Red Bull couldn’t match as Max claimed second 0.123s behind.
Sainz had to settle for third ahead of Sergio Perez, with Lewis Hamilton almost seven-tenths off pole in fifth.
The Briton’s former teammate Valtteri Bottas was sixth for Alfa Romeo ahead of Magnussen in seventh, who overcame a hydraulics issue during Q2.
Fernando Alonso was eighth as a mistake by George Russell left him ninth, Gasly completed the top 10.
