Max Verstappen wasted no time in redeeming himself from a sixth-place finish in Thursday’s free practice to claim pole position for Saturday’s season-opening Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Red Bull Racing driver and reigning series champion laid down a fast lap of 1 minute, 29.179 seconds during Friday’s qualifying session. He will thus lead the Formula 1 field into the first race of the season from the front row.
Verstappen’s pole-winning time was over half-a-second better than last year’s fast lap (1:29.708).
Longtime title rival and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc qualified second with a 1 minute, 29.407-second lap time. He was followed ever-so-closely by Mercedes driver George Russell, who filed a 1 minute, 29.485-second lap.
“Everybody at the factory has done a great job to give Lewis (Hamilton) and I a car that we are much happier with. It’s a base that we can build upon. We’ve still got some catching up to do to be at the very front, but starting P3 for tomorrow’s race is a good place to be. It’s clear how tight it is between a number of teams, including ourselves, Ferrari, the McLarens and Aston Martin,” Russell said.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth, with Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez completing the top five in qualifying.
Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg were in the top 10.