F1 Bahrain GP: Verstappen storms to pole ahead of Leclerc, Russell

Red Bull’s Mac Verstappen outpaces Charles Leclerc and George Russell of Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG respectively to take the season opener’s pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The flying Dutchman clocked the fastest lap, 1 minute 29.421 seconds, on his first final qualifying run. The defending champion edged passed the Ferrari driver by 0.228 seconds and 0.306 seconds off Russell. This is the three-time world champion’s 33rd career pole position.

F1 Bahrain GP: Hulkenberg the surprise package

For the team that finished last in the 2023 season, Haas has something to cheer about as Nico Hulkenberg was a ray of hope as he qualified tenth on the grid. After a string of management changes in Haas and last year’s aerodynamic howler, the German driver has ensured that the F1 team is not a backmarker. At least not in the first race of the new season.

After qualifying behind Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton, Hulkenberg kept his feet on the ground and explained that his competition is not the likes of Hamilton, Leclerc and Perez rather it’s the other guys. He also added that there’s still a lot to be learned in terms of tyre management as the team was plagued with tyre degradation last year. 

F1 Bahrain GP: The rest of the pack

The next best after the top three drivers was Carlos Sainz of Ferrari who was followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Both the Ferrari and Red Bull number two race drivers are under pressure to either get a seat in F1 next year or hold on to their position in the current team. Being a second slower than Verstappen doesn’t help the Mexican’s cause, but on race day anything is possible.

The veteran and two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso will start sixth on the first race of the season. Fernando explained that the way Aston Martin car performed in the qualifiers was completely unexpected as the winter tests were okay and the car wasn’t near the pace of the leaders. Seventh and eighth places went to the McLaren duo, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who were followed by the not-so-happy Lewis Hamilton. After the session, the Mercedes-AMG driver said that it was not the greatest of feelings after the qualifier, but he admitted that he had sacrificed single-lap pace for more fuel in the tank and he’s hoping that it pays off on race day. Wrapping up the top ten was Nico Hulkenberg from Haas.