Oscar Piastri achieved an important pole position at Bahrain over his McLaren teammate Lando Norris by qualifying at the top while the championship leader was down in P6 alongside Japanese race winner Max Verstappen.
Piastri looked the quicker of the two Papaya cars from Q2 and after being fastest on the first run of Q2, and he then confirm his pole on the deciding run on a rapidly improving Bahrain international Circuit.
George Russell produced a solid lap to take a front row slot for Mercedes, as Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari ahead of the second Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Pierre Gasly achieving a superb fifth position on the grid for Alpine.
Norris looked set to challenge Piastri and Russell for the front row, but a relatively poor final Q3 lap left him down in sixth. McLaren’s main challenger Red Bull suffered a disappointing qualifying session with Verstappen only in seventh.
Red Bull was under pressure from the start of qualifying as Verstappen went off the track on the final corner of his flyer, while teammate Tsunoda also lost his lap for track limits. Verstappen reported “there’s something really wrong with the car” but still managed to go through in third, two tenths behind session leader Norris, while Tsunoda also advanced.
Surprisingly, Alex Albon was out of Q1 for the first time this season, taking P16 in the Williams, as was Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson who suffered a DRS issue. They were joined in the drop zone by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman, who lost a shot at Q2 with a poor second sector, reporting problems with locking the front tyres in the Haas.
Q2 was quickly red flagged for a crash by Haas driver Esteban Ocon coming out of Turn 2. Starting his flying lap, Ocon already started suffering oversteer coming out of the corner, and then lost control over his car as soon as his unsettled car crossed the exit kerbs, spinning into the left-hand side wall. Ocon reported he was okay, with the session resuming after an eight-minute delay.
After the interruption McLaren wasted no time going first and sector once more, this time Piastri leading Norris by a tenth. Alpine once again proved the surprise package with Gasly taking third ahead of both Mercedes cars. His teammate Doohan looked set to join him in Q3, but a weaker final sector left the Alpine driver in P11.
Behind Doohan Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar was knocked out in P12, with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso also eliminated, the latter slower on his compromised Q2 lap than he had been in Q1. The second qualifying phase again delivered a warning for the Red Bulls, with Verstappen and Tsunoda scraping through in ninth and tenth.
Verstappen also had a poor first lap in Q3 due to what he described as brake issues, while Piastri led the early part with a time of one minute, 30.233 seconds, a tenth ahead of Russell and Norris. The trio was a second clear of the rest, led by Ferrari’s Leclerc and Hamilton.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli and then Russell cycled through to take provisional pole on the final run, before Piastri restored McLaren’s advantage with his second pole position in his Formula 1 career.
However, post qualifying the race stewards have penalised both Mercedes drivers with an one-place grid penalty. This was due to the pair being sent into the fast lane of the pit lane before a session restart time – after Haas driver Esteban Ocon’s crash early in Q2 – was confirmed.
Leclerc managed to split the Mercedes cars in third, with Antonelli rallying from having his first lap deleted for track limits by grabbing his best Formula 1 qualifying result in fourth.
Gasly delighted Alpine with fifth on the grid, qualifying just 0.003 seconds behind Antonelli and ahead of a disappointed Norris and Verstappen. Carlos Sainz was eighth for Williams, with Hamilton failing to qualify higher than eighth after also seeing his first lap deleted for track limits.
Tsunoda rounded out the top ten due to not managing to put a clean lap together, but the Japanese driver’s Q3 berth signals some progress on his side of the Red Bull garage.
Congratulations to Oscar Piastri in taking pole position. This was expected as the MCL39 is a very fast car but shocking to see his McLaren teammate Lando Norris only P6. Mistakes in qualifying was costly and to be one place ahead of his championship challenger makes it interesting.
Bahrain Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:29.841
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.175
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.009*
4 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:30.216
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:30.213*
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.267
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.423
8 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:30.680
9 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.772
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:31.303
11 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:31.245
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:31.271
13 Nico Hulkenburg Sauber 1:31.783
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.886
15 Esteban Ocon Haas No time
16 Alex Albon Williams 1:32.040
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:32.165
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.186
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:32.283
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:32.373
*One-place grid penalty following qualifying rule breaches
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri grabbed pole position during Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, getting the better of Mercedes rival George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a thrilling conclusion – with team mate Lando Norris only sixth.
Practice pace-setters McLaren had been in control through the Q1 and Q2 phases but had to work hard to remain at the top of the timesheets in Q3 – Piastri’s final 1m 29.841s lap putting him a couple of tenths up on Russell.
Leclerc was another tenth-and-a-half back in third, with Kimi Antonelli completing a strong Qualifying performance for Mercedes, even if both Silver Arrows drivers are to be investigated post-session for potential rule breaches.
Pierre Gasly claimed a fine fifth in his Alpine, taking advantage of a below par second effort for championship leader Norris, who will line up just ahead of main rival Max Verstappen amid the Red Bull driver’s own brake issues.
Carlos Sainz delivered his strongest Qualifying session of the season so far to take eighth, with Lewis Hamilton ninth in the sister Ferrari after one of his laps was deleted over track limits, and Yuki Tsunoda completing the top 10 after putting his Red Bull in Q3.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-beats-russell-and-leclerc-to-pole-position-during-bahrain-grand-prix.4yw7fVrWBvxYZunZUU0KuX
Esteban Ocon has crashed out of Q2 at Turn 2 of the Bahrain International Circuit. The Frenchman is unhurt, but was slow to remove himself from the car.
After a tidy Turn 1, the car started to squirm as it travelled over the kerb and, with a solid tank slapper after an up-shift, veered off the track and into the barrier. While the driver was on his first timed lap of Q2, he placed himself in P12 in Q1, showing potential in the Haas machine.
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle said the following on the crash:
“That’s a tough old angle he’s gone in there. You can see how quickly the car stopped once it’s hit the barrier. That tells you how much energy has dissipated.”
He added:
“He was on all the right bits of the race track, it looked all under control, but he upshifted, gets a torque spike and as he was trying to wrestle it, it went around.”
The driver has been taken by the medical car to be checked over.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/esteban-ocon-crashes-out-of-bahrain-q2-after-scary-tank-slapper/10712542/
After solid practice sessions throughout the race weekend of the Bahrain Grand Prix and high expectations, McLaren only managed to get one of its drivers on the front row of the grid as Lando Norris finished P6. His team-mate Oscar Piastri finished his impressive Saturday on pole, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Despite finishing at the top of the timesheets alongside his team-mate throughout the practice sessions, Norris made a mistake on Turn 1 on the one lap that counted.
Talking with Sky Sports F1 following Q3, he was incredibly disappointed in his performance.
“I didn’t even go a tenth quicker,” he lamented. “I’m just not quick enough.”
On being asked where and why he wasn’t quick enough, he simply pointed to himself.
“Here,” he said. “honestly, no idea. No idea, just not quick enough.
“It’s just another day. [We will] look into things, see why I was struggling so much today and try again tomorrow.”
He was further asked what he needs to do to pick himself up for tomorrow, he answered:
“Nothing. Go to sleep.”
Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok analysed the Briton’s pace compared to his team-mate:
“He has looked behind. He has looked behind since FP2. He was behind in Q2 as well. He lost three tenths in the first sector, so he would have been nip and tuck with George, but he would have still been behind Oscar – and you don’t want to be beaten by your team-mate.
“To be sixth on the grid on a weekend where we have spoken about a McLaren one-two and intra-team battle, he’s now got four other people in front.”
Unlike the current championship leader, Piastri feels confident ahead of his Bahrain campaign.
“I’ve felt confident out there pretty much all weekend,” he said in the post-qualifying interview. “FP1 was an experience, for us all I think, it felt more like a rally car than an F1 car.
“But from then on, I’ve felt really comfortable with the car. FP3 we had good pace. In qualifying, the others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted but I still delivered the laps when it mattered, which was the most important thing at the end. So very, very happy.”
He was asked how he can make the most of his place with the other Papaya driver starting so far behind him:
“Let’s see. I’ve got to get to Turn One in first, so let’s see what happens. But I’ve felt like I’ve been comfortable all weekend and there’s no better place to start than on pole. I can’t thank the team enough for the car they’ve given me and excited for the race tomorrow.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-explains-disappointing-bahrain-qualifying/10712576/
Charles Leclerc secured a third-place start for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Surprised by the result, the Monegasque driver beamed as he praised the Ferrari team for “pushing like crazy” to introduce the new upgrades.
Ferrari arrived in Bahrain with a new floor, and on top of the upgrades, the Maranello outfit has been experimenting plenty with different setups over the past few weeks. Leclerc confirmed that it now “feels like I’ve found my way a little bit.”
While speaking to the media following qualifying, Leclerc explained:
“Honestly, I didn’t expect P3. I knew that in Q3 there was some lap time. I knew that in Q1 and Q2 I just had to be patient and wait for the track to come to us.
“It was a bit tricky because at the beginning of Q3 everything felt really bad with the old tyres but then as soon as we put on the new tyres it was quite a bit better.
“I’m happy. I did not expect it but I think it’s a result of… we explored quite a lot of extreme setups in the last few weekends, and it feels like I’ve found my way a little bit.
“And little by little, I hope there will be more performance to extract from the car in the weekends to come.
“The team has pushed like crazy to bring those upgrades here. I don’t think it’s the best track to have upgrades on, but it’s always good. It’s a small gain, not a big one, but hopefully next week it should be a bit more of a step.
“If we are P3 today, especially considering such fine margins with P3, the upgrades helped.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/charles-leclerc-on-unexpected-bahrain-p3-start-and-new-ferrari-upgrades/10712592/
Max Verstappen struggled throughout qualifying to secure the seventh grid slot for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Opening up on the challenges that he faced so far this weekend, the four-time champion explained that he had issues with brake feel and grip.
“All weekend it has been difficult, just struggling on brake feel and stopping power basically. Besides that just also just very difficult grip,” he explained to the media.
“Now, I feel that maybe the tyre grip that we are getting out of the car and that’s why also set-up wise we have thrown the car around a lot and nothing really seems to give you a clear direction. So I guess that also shows we are struggling also with other things.
“I have no idea how they [the extra set of hard tyres he has saved for the race] will perform. I think it will be quite high deg but also on the hard tyre you have quite low mechanical grip so naturally you will slide a bit more and I have no idea how that will work out. But at least it’s an option to have and then we’ll see what happens with it.”
Commenting on how difficult it might be to start from seventh on the grid tomorrow, he added:
“I don’t know. I just try to do my best. It’s been a difficult weekend for us. Tomorrow I’ll try to get as many points as I can – I mean I do that every single weekend, so it’s not like it’s any difference tomorrow – but I have no idea where we will be in terms of race pace. We’ll be in the middle of the pack so hopefully a bit of excitement.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max-verstappen-laments-red-bull-struggles-all-weekend-it-has-been-difficult/10712609/
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have both been hit with one-place grid penalties for the Bahrain Grand Prix, following rule breaches in Saturday’s Qualifying session.
Russell and Antonelli had qualified second and fourth respectively in an encouraging session for the Silver Arrows at the Bahrain International Circuit, but will now drop to third and fifth.
The stewards penalised the pair after they were sent into the fast lane of the pit lane before a session restart time – after Haas driver Esteban Ocon’s crash early in Q2 – was confirmed.
After hearing from Mercedes team representative Andrew Shovlin (Trackside Engineering Director), the Race Director and FIA Single Seater Sporting Director, and having reviewed video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence, the stewards handed down their verdict.
“The team representative, Mr Shovlin, in evidence stated that he gave the instruction for the cars to be released, in error, having misinterpreted the message posted on page three of the timing screen, ‘estimated re-start time’, to be a message advising the actual re-start time,” read the panel’s decision document.
“He argued that there was no sporting advantage gained in this case as there was sufficient time remaining (11 minutes) for other teams to perform their run plans.
“It was also noted that the team’s Sporting Director, Mr [Ron] Meadows, was not present at the event and that normally he would be involved in the release process.
“The FIA Single Seater Sporting Director stated that such a move could be a sporting advantage in that it could enable a team to perform its run plan whereas other teams may not be able to.
“The stewards agree with this view particularly where there are only a few minutes remaining in the session.
“The FIA Sporting Director argued that there needed to be a sporting penalty rather than a team fine, otherwise in future teams would release their cars as soon as the estimated re-start time was published. The stewards agree with this view.
“Mr Shovlin argued that it was possible to give a non sporting penalty if the stewards declared that it was not to be taken as a precedent but also stated that if a sporting penalty was to be given, it should be mitigated.
“The stewards agreed with the view that this breach required a sporting penalty, however accept that the breach was unintentional and a genuine mistake by the team for which Mr Shovlin apologised.
“We decide to impose a one position grid penalty. A similar breach in different circumstances could entail a more severe sporting penalty in future.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/breaking-russell-and-antonelli-hit-with-grid-penalties-after-qualifying-rule.6CE2afXOBgESiIfNRoSpiY