Bahrain thriller: Max Verstappen outpaces Leclerc in intense qualifying duel
In a hotly contested qualifying session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the reigning Formula 1 World Champion, secured his first pole position of 2024 by defeating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.228 seconds. George Russell of Mercedes finished third.
After the first few runs of Q3, Verstappen trailed Leclerc by barely six-hundredths of a second, so he had to fight hard in the last laps of the session to overtake the Dutchman. Verstappen picked up the pace for his final run, finishing in 1:29.179, but after the second sector of his final, Leclerc, who had gone faster in Q2, led by a narrow margin. But in the last sector, Verstappen won his third career Bahrain Grand Prix pole and the Ferrari driver was defeated.
With Ferrari being the first team on the track at the beginning of the hour, in Q1, Carlos Sainz established an early lead in P1 with a lap of 1:31.208, just under six-hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Leclerc.
After six minutes, Verstappen departed the Red Bull garage and rocketed to the top of the scoreboard with a lap of 1:30.031, ahead of Lando Norris from McLaren, Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin, and Sergio Pérez, who finished in fourth position with a time of 1:30.221.
On his second try, Sainz, however, was the first to go under the 1 minute 30-second mark. He stopped the timer at 1:29.900 and went back to the top of the timesheet, slightly more than a tenth ahead of Verstappen.
Verstappen attempted a second lap after the session, but he was unable to get any better, and as Lance Stroll of Aston Martin leaped to P2 with his last flyer, Verstappen advanced to the following session in P3.
Nevertheless, neither Sauber made it to the second round; teammate Zhou Guanyu was eliminated in P16 ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Logan Sargeant of Williams was also eliminated in P18, beating off Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly of the Alpines.
Verstappen took the lead early in Q2, with an astounding time of 1:29.374, nearly six-tenths faster than Pérez and the only other driver below 1m30s, Norris, in third. Leclerc was sixth before the last laps, ahead of Alonso, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, and Sainz.
After both Red Bull drivers withdrew from their final Q2 laps, Leclerc took the lead with a powerful final flying lap of 1:29.165. Third behind Verstappen was Sainz.
RBs Yuki Tusnoda and Albon, who were eliminated in P11 before Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo’s backup RB, and Kevin Magnussen of Haas.
At the beginning of the third qualifying round, Verstappen was off to a fast start. The World Champion recorded a strong first lap of 1:29.421 to claim the provisional pole. However, Leclerc was only 0.6 seconds behind the Dutchman.
However, Verstappen picked up much more speed in the closing laps, finishing with a 1:29.179 time. Leclerc appeared to be gaining ground on Verstappen briefly, but after the second sector, he pushed his tires too hard and finished two-tenths of a second behind the leader. This was the champion’s first pole position of 2024. Russell finished third for Mercedes, and Sainz finished fourth, both with 1:29.573.
Pérez and Alonso shared the front row and sixth place with a 1:29.932 score. The remaining two places in the top 10 were claimed by Hamilton and Hülkenberg, while the McLarens driven by Norris and Piastri will start in row four.