Max Verstappen takes first pole position of the season in Bahrain

The reigning world champion is still the boss.

For the first qualifying session of the 2023 season, Max Verstappen took pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix. On the Sakhir track, the Dutchman set the record straight with the best time in Q3 ahead of his teammate Red Bull Sergio Perez.

Max Verstappen takes the first pole of 2023 in Bahrain!#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/vZlHGDbbmr

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 4, 2023

The Red Bulls dominated the session, ahead of Ferrari well and truly there despite the concerns raised during the various free practice sessions.

Charles Leclerc et Carlos Sainz will monopolize the 2nd line on Sunday. The Scuderia was (almost) able to match the Milton Keynes single-seaters, even if qualifying got off to a bad start at the start of Q1.

A red flag had to be displayed after 5 minutes of the session to clear the track of debris from Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, which lost carbon elements on its first flying lap.

The Monegasque also did not perform a second flying lap in Q3 in order to save a set of tires for the race.

Leclerc's Ferrari causes a red flag at the start of Q1 🚩#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/vGLEIP5p7o

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) March 4, 2023

Mercedes reassures itself, Alonso assures

Ferrari drivers qualified ahead Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard, impressive since the start of the weekend, was unable to keep up with the pace of the two top teams and had to settle for 5th place on the grid. Almost a disappointment for Aston Martin, but the progress in one year is colossal.

The double world champion is still ahead of the Mercedes by George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. If they are still far from the Red Bulls and the Ferraris, the Silver Arrows have reassured their pace in qualifying. Lance stroll (Aston Martin) will start 8th on Sunday, he who is driving with a still sore wrist.

We find the first Alpine in 9th position, that ofEsteban Ocon. The true level of car French has finally been revealed, and the least we can say is that it does not live up to expectations…

Last of Q3, Nico Hulkenberg is the surprise of this qualifying session. For his return to F1, the German managed to dominate his teammate Kevin Magnussen, and could have qualified even higher if his lap time had not been canceled in Q3.

Lando Norris (McLaren) failed to get out of Q2 by failing in 11th place, an almost unexpected ranking after laborious winter testing and a scare in Q1.

The McLaren driver precedes the Alfa Romeo de Valtteri Bottas as well as Guanyu-Zhou. Yuki tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) will start from the 7th row alongsideAlexander albon (Williams), who was invited to Q2 but missed his last flying lap despite great promises in Q1.

The Gasly disappointment

For his first qualifying session in F1, Logan sargeant made a good impression, despite an elimination in Q1. The American, 16th, set the same time as Lando Norris, 15th in Q1… but a few seconds after the Briton!

Kevin Magnussen (Haas) is far from his teammate Hülkenberg and will start from 17th position in front Oscar piastri (McLaren), who experienced a very complicated first qualifying session. He is ahead of another rookie, Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri), who will start from the last row for his 2nd GP in Formula 1.

❌ Those eliminated from Q1: Sargeant, Magnussen, Piastri, De Vries and gasly.

Gasly's time was canceled, so he will start 20th tomorrow.#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/fgjCMEwImY

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) March 4, 2023

Pierre Gasly (Alpine) brings up the rear and will start from last position on Sunday for the Grand Prix. The Frenchman, eliminated in Q1, also saw his best time canceled for having abused the track limits in the last turn.

The qualifying rankings in Bahrain:

ALSO READ > The program for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix