F1 Bahrain: Max Verstappen takes pole position
- Ben Morrison
- Mar 4, 2023
- 4 min read
After a few weeks of buildup looking at the cars in pre-season testing, we really weren't sure who was going to end up where on the grid this weekend. But Verstappen manages to stick it on pole after an incredibly tight qualifying session.
Q1
Leclerc had his work cut out for him, after a piece of carbon fiber flew off the car early into Q1, causing a hefty lockup into Turn 1. The clock was stopped and a red flag was soon thrown to empty the track to make it safe for marshals to get on track and collect the sharp debris from the Ferrari.
After a closer inspection it would appear that a big chunk of the front right wheel aerodynamic carbon fiber is what came loose, and may have caused further damage under the car. Thankfully for the team, Ferrari engineers had the extra time from the red flag to get some quick repairs in to get Leclerc back out on track, and it paid off for them as the Monegasque driver was comfortable to set a time that got him through to Q2.
We were soon to be reminded that track limits are, again this year, the white lines around the track; if all four wheels exceed those limits the lap time is deleted, and Carlos Sainz was first to succumb to the race directors careful watch over the session.
It was a busy Q1, with all 20 cars on track making up for a loss in track time from the brief red flag, but cars were able to navigate the traffic to set some decent fast times with __ topping the first qualifying period. Unfortunately for McLaren, the car doesn't seem to be built in the right setup to set the times to get out of Q1, with their first outings leaving them about half a second off the safety net.
"He's got Lando's attention. They'll push each other, which is exactly what we want" - Zak Brown on Piastri's pace
Logan Sargeant and Lando Norris ended up setting the exact same lap time, but unfortunately for Sargeant, Lando set his time first so was able to keep his place in Q2. Gasly, De Vries, Piastri, Magnussen and Sargeant were the first knockouts of qualifying this season with the drivers not able to get the few tenths they needed to push through. Another track limit infringement meant Pierre Gasly starts the race on Sunday from the back of the grid, after his lap time was deleted.
Q2
A more tentative start to a qualifying session with a few cars setting their first few lap times on used sets of softs. But it wasn't long until the top 8 were trading fastest lap times, with Red Bull taking over the top of the timing board after the drivers set their first laps in Q2.
With 5 minutes on the clock, Lance Stroll missed the weigh bridge coming into the pits. The team caught him before he got to the garage and were able to push him back up the pitlane to fulfill their duties in getting the car randomly weighed as part of the FIA homologation process, making sure everyone is following the rules.
Albon started struggling quite significantly with some very bad understeer, struggling to keep the car between the white lines, and was back in the pits with just over 2 minutes on the clock to refuel ahead of one final push lap to try get into Q3, but they couldn't get him out in time and he had to finish his qualifying early, setting him up to start the race in P15 on Sunday.
With the final seconds ticking down in Q2, the only two cars not on track were the two Red Bull's who sat comfortably in their garage content with lap times to get them through to Q3. One final push for Norris to try and get McLaren through to Q3, but sadly for the papaya team, Stroll pips Norris out of qualifying by 0.254s. Out in Q2 were Albon, Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas and Norris.
Q3
The final stages of qualifying began with not much track action, all the teams holding the cars in the garage for the first few minutes of the qualifying stage to get the perfect position on track. Red Bull were first out, with Ferrari soon following. Mercedes chose to wait patiently in the pitlane for a bit longer than their competition, seemingly waiting to understand their rivals qualifying strategy to stick their silver arrows in the optimal place on track.
Verstappen set the first time to beat with a 1:29.897, over 6 tenths faster than last years pole position time. With the first few times set, the final cars come out of the garage to see what they can muster together under the lights in Sakhir. Alonso set his first lap of Q3, with a time 4 tenths down on Verstappen's time. A deep turn
Both Mercedes set very similar sector lap times on their first running in Q3, but only able to put the car 6th and 7th.
Charles Leclerc was out of the car with still 2 minutes on the clock, ending his qualifying early, leaving the Red Bull's a lot of breathing space after a strategic decision kept the Ferrari in the garage to save a set of tyres for the race tomorrow. The pressure was on for Sainz as the only Ferrari now on track to challenge the Red Bull's for pole position, but alas was unable to get them after the two Red Bull's were somehow able to find another 2 tenths out in their final runs.
Pole position goes to Max Verstappen for the first race this season, with his teammate Sergio Perez making it a Red Bull 1-2. Leclerc rounds the top 3 with Sainz starting alongside him in fourth. Hulkenberg did well for Haas, somewhat running under the radar sticking his car 10th on the grid for the race on Sunday, despite his final lap time being deleted.
Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
1 | Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:29.708 |
2 | Perez | Red Bull | 1:29.846 |
3 | Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.000 |
4 | Sainz | Ferrari | 1:30.154 |
5 | Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:30.336 |
6 | Russell | Mercedes | 1:30.340 |
7 | Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:30.384 |
8 | Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:30.836 |
9 | Ocon | Alpine | 1:30.984 |
10 | Hulkenberg | Haas | |
11 | Norris | McLaren | 1:31.381 |
12 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:31.443 |
13 | Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:31.473 |
14 | Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:32.510 |
15 | Albon | Williams | |
16 | Sargeant | Williams | 1:31.652 |
17 | Magnussen | Haas | 1:31.892 |
18 | Piastri | McLaren | 1:32.101 |
19 | De Vries | AlphaTauri | 1:32.121 |
20 | Gasly | Alpine | 1:32.181 |
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