First career pole for Leclerc in Sakhir

Applause erupted in the press room at the Bahrain International Circuit when Charles Leclerc crossed the line and stopped the clock with a time of 1’27”866, synonymous with his first career pole position and a new lap record. The new recruit of the Team will have dominated Q1, Q2, and Q3 masterfully and will have never been worried by his teammate Sebastian Vettel. 

The four-time German world champion fails almost three tenths behind the Monegasque but still ensures an all-red front row, a sign that Ferrari has clearly returned to the match after the disappointment in Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton limits breakage for Mercedes. The Briton finished 30 thousandths behind Vettel to take 3rd time. He will be accompanied on the second row by his teammate Valtteri Bottas, leader of the world championship.

Despite only one attempt in Q3, like Vettel, Max Verstappen manages to snatch the 5th beat to Red Bull but the Dutch does not precede the Haas de Kevin Magnussen, very lively, only 5 thousandths. Carlos Sainz achieved a nice 7th place for McLaren. His teammate Lando Norris also climbs into Q3 and will start 10th on Sunday evening. Between the two MCL34s slips the VF-19 of Romain Grosjean and the Alfa C38 of the eternal Kimi Raïkkönen.

For the second race in a row, Renault fails to place one of its R.S.19s in Q3, Daniel Ricciardo failing at the gates of the Top 10 by 17 thousandths. It is also the grimace soup in the clan of Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman lost four tenths compared to his teammate Verstappen in Q2 and stopped in the intermediate phase of qualifying. 

Worse, the Norman ranks behind the best of Toro Rosso, that ofAlexander albon which rises to 12th place. His garage neighbor Daniil Kvyat also stopped in Q2 and finished 15th, behind the Racing Point of Sergio Pérez. 

The big surprise of Q1 comes from the elimination of Nico Hulkenberg, who had nevertheless shown his advantage during the various free sessions. The German from Renault had to be content with the 17th fastest time and accompanied in the cart the Alfa of Antonio Giovinazzi (16th), the Racing Point of Lance stroll (18th) and the Williams by George Russell and Robert Kubica. The Pole only failed 40 thousandths behind his British teammate. 

After signing his first career pole position, will Charles Leclerc turn the test on Sunday evening into a race? Response from 18:10 p.m. local time (16:10 p.m. in France) with the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, to be followed live with commentary via our live text on CARhebdo.fr.