McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took pole position in qualifying for Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix, while his closest title rivals struggled
Mercedes driver George Russell led in the closing stages before being pipped by Piastri’s late effort, while Piastri’s team-mate Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could only qualify sixth and seventh respectively.
Q1
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg posted an early benchmark of 1m32.810s before Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso lapped half a second quicker. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made a mistake on his effort and abandoned his lap, while his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had his attempt deleted for exceeding track limits.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lowered the pace to a 1m31.454s before being edged by Oscar Piastri, but the Australian’s McLaren team-mate Lando Norris then lapped almost 0.3s faster.
Verstappen and Tsundo made their second timed laps count to make it through to Q2, while Haas driver Ollie Bearman had a sideways moment at the final corner and was eventually shuffled to 20th by the end of the session, and therefore was eliminated from qualifying.
Joining the Briton in failing to make it to Q2 were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Williams Alex Albon, the latter making a surprise early exit from qualifying after hitting traffic on his final run.
ELIMINATED
- Alex Albon Williams
- Liam Lawson Racing Bulls
- Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber
- Lance Stroll Aston Martin
- Ollie Bearman Hass
Q2
A heavy crash for Haas’s Esteban Ocon resulted in Q2 being red-flagged early on, the Frenchman losing control on a kerb exiting turn three before spinning backwards into the barriers, and he emerged from his wrecked car seemingly unscathed.
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli posted a 1m31.178s following the resumption to lead his team-mate George Russell by 0.2s, with Williams driver Carlos Sainz then moving into second. Norris soon moved to the top by 0.6s only to be edged by Piastri who went quickest by 0.1s with a 1m30.454s.
Russell and Antonelli made improvements to climb back to third and fourth respectively ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, but the trio were then edged by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who snatched third. Verstappen left it late to make it into Q3 with an effort that put him ninth, while Tsunoda just scraped through as well in 10th.
ELIMINATED
- Jack Doohan Alpine
- Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls
- Nico Hulkenberg Haas
- Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
- Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull
Q3
Tsunoda’s opening effort of 1m31.637s put him 0.4s clear of Verstappen, with Antonelli then jumping ahead of the pair only to have his lap deleted. Russell then knocked 1.3s off Tsunoda’s benchmark to lead, with Piastri then edging him by 0.1s and Norris slotting into third with his first attempt.
Antonelli was next to head the leaderboard after making his second lap count, but he was swiftly displaced by Russell who improved to a 1m30.009s. Mercedes hopes of a front-row lockout were dashed late on as Piastri snatched pole with a 1m29.841s and Leclerc edged Antonelli to third.
Gasly also put in a strong lap to take fifth, while Norris was unable to make a significant improvement on his final attempt and slipped to sixth. Verstappen could not match the front-running pace and ended up seventh ahead of Williams’s Sainz, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton a lowly ninth and Tsunoda 10th.
The grid could change before Sunday’s race, however, with both Mercedes drivers facing a post-qualifying investigation for leaving their garages early during the Q2 red flag.
QUALIFYING RESULT
- Oscar Piastri McLaren
- George Russell Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
- Pierre Gasly Alpine
- Lando Norris McLaren
- Max Verstappen Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz Williams
- Lewis Hamilton Ferrari
- Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull
Featured image credit: @McLarenF1 on X
