Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed pole position for 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit.
Verstappen who begins this season as defending champion for the second consecutive season produced a stunning pair of Q3 laps to claim his 21st pole position in F1, ahead of Sergio Perez in a front-row lockout for Red Bull.
Ferrari achieved an unexpected second-row lockout with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ahead of FP3 pacesetter, Fernando Alonso who rounded out the top five.
Now, here is a full roundup of FP3 and Qualifying.
FP3
McLaren’s Lando Norris was first out on track in a quiet start to the session and set a benchmark time of 1m 34.633 on softs, which was bettered by the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the 13th minute, as Hamilton went fastest with 1m 33.508.
Friday Practice’s pacesetter, Alonso however displaced Hamilton just 11 minutes later with 1m 33.121 which put him fastest at the half-hour mark from Hamilton and Sainz.
Once qualifying simulations commenced, Lance Stroll was the first to better Alonso’s benchmark time as he posted 1m 32.919 to go top in the 45th minute.
Russell four minutes later found 0.188 seconds to go faster but Hamilton found a further 0.176s to move ahead of his Mercedes’ teammate.
Verstappen who began this weekend as the hot favourite then delivered 1m 32.345 in the 52nd minute to go top, despite suffering a wobbly rear through the final two corners in a scruffy finish to his lap.
That error proved costly as Alonso found 0.005s to top the session with 1m 32.340 from Verstappen and Sergio Perez, whilst Hamilton and Leclerc rounded out the top five.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1m 32.340 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.005 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.106 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.215 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.284 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.391 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.579 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.605 |
| 9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.705 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.724 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.776 |
| 12 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.840 |
| 13 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.862 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.041 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.083 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.135 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.289 |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.325 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.542 |
| 20 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | + 1.742 |
Qualifying
Q1
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries were first out on track with Tsunoda setting the quickest lap, before the red flag was waved just five minutes into the session after a front-right wheel brow snapped off Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Q1 resumed eight minutes later and Verstappen quickly resumed his battle with Alonso from FP3 for the quickest lap time, yet it was Sainz, Russell and Leclerc who were top once everyone completed their lap times.
The elimination zone meanwhile compromised of; Nico Hulkenberg, Norris, Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant and Stroll – who had his first lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.
Once the checkered flag fell, Hulkenberg, Norris and Stroll all survived at expense of Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen and De Vries, who qualified 17, 18th and 20th respectively with Piastri initially set to start his first F1 race from 19th on the grid.
Gasly however had his lap time deleted during the gap between Q1 and Q2, meaning that the Frenchman will start 20th with Magnussen, Piastri and De Vries all promoted a position on the grid.
Sargeant meanwhile managed to deliver 1m 31.652 like Norris managed on his final lap but the Williams rookie will start from 16th on the grid, due to F1 rules stipulating that whoever sets their lap time first advances in the event that two or more drivers achieve identical lap times.
Sainz meanwhile topped the session after nobody failed to better his 1m 30.983 on their final runs.
Q2
A quiet start to Q2 saw nobody head out on track but as soon as everyone ventured out, Stroll on used tyres set the initial benchmark, which was swiftly bettered by several drivers as Verstappen found himself top at the half-way mark with 1m 30.503 ahead of Perez and Hamilton.
Guanyu Zhou, Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Tsunoda and Alex Albon meanwhile all sat within the drop zone, with Albon having not set a lap time.
Stroll meanwhile missed the weighbridge as he pitted at the end of the opening run and had to be wheeled back.
At the checkered flag, Albon failed to set a lap time after he ran wide on his sole attempt and will start 15th on the grid.
Tsunoda qualified 14th behind the Alfa Romeo duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou who were 12 and 13th fastest respectively.
Norris meanwhile missed out on Q3 after Stroll produced a last-gasp lap to scrape through in tenth, whilst Leclerc topped the Q2 timesheet with 1m 30.283 ahead of Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz and Alonso with the top six split by 0.363s.
Q3
Red Bull’s Verstappen and Perez were first out on track as only five drivers opted for an early opening Q3 run, of which Verstappen went top with 1m 29.897 ahead of Leclerc, Perez, Sainz and Stroll before Alonso, Hulkenberg, Russell and Hamilton opted to do their first fliers in the gap.
Ocon meanwhile opted to do just one Q3 run after using up most of his soft tyre allowance across Q1 and Q2 respectively.
Alonso meanwhile went fourth on his flier ahead of Russell in fifth whilst Hamilton could only manage seventh.
Leclerc meanwhile failed to do a second and final run as part of a strategic tyre based decision for the race.
As the checkered flag fell, Verstappen clung on to claim his 21st pole position in F1 ahead of Perez, Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso, Russell, Hamilton, Stroll, Ocon and Hulkenberg who failed to set a lap time.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 29.708 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.138 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.292 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.446 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.628 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.632 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.676 |
| 8 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.128 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.276 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | No Time |
| 11 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 31.381 |
| 12 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.062 |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.092 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.129 |
| 15 | Alex Albon | Williams | No Time |
| 16 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1m 31.652 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.240 |
| 18 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.449 |
| 19 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | + 0.469 |
| 20 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.529 |
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