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F1 Bahrain GP: Verstappen beats Leclerc to first pole of 2024

The reigning champion had taken a back seat during the opening two stages of qualifying but, when it came down to Q3, he set a demanding benchmark of a 1m29.421s - and then beat his own effort amid the final runs to settle on a 1m29.179s.

This was slower than Leclerc's time from Q2, but the Monegasque was unable to replicate that effort in the final runs of the Q3 session, and could only manage a 1m29.407s as Verstappen claimed the best first sector time by two tenths.

George Russell overcame a brief scare in Q2, where he straddled the elimination zone, to find form in Q3 and worked his way up to third on the grid with a 1m29.485s.

Although Russell was placed under investigation for exceeding the maximum delta time in Q1, no further action was taken and he should hence retain his position on the second row in Saturday's race.

This put him ahead of Sainz, as the Spaniard looked rapid in Q1 but was unable to retain a similar advantage over his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc. Regardless, he will start ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez, as the Mexican moved up to fifth late on in the Q3 session.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24 (Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images)

Fernando Alonso will start the Bahrain GP from sixth, having only completed one lap in Q3 after electing to run in the gap. This lap put him third among the initial runs, but he fell back as the majority of the top 10 improved in their second efforts.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the fourth row for McLaren, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who was unable to deliver on the pace he'd shown earlier in the weekend and looked out of sorts compared to team-mate Russell. Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10, although could not replicate or improve upon the time he had set in Q2.

Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll were dumped out of a potential Q3 by late laps by Russell and Hamilton, who delivered under the pressure of needing to find a lap on the second attempt having been stuck in the bottom five.

With minor gaps between the drivers either side of the progression line, the end of Q2 played host to a series of improvements as the timing board resembled a slot machine in the latter stages.

Although the likes of Tsunoda, Stroll, and Alex Albon all had moments within the top 10, further improvements - including Leclerc's ride to the top of the order and Hulkenberg's journey into sixth - shuffled them down the order.

Russell had slid into the drop zone alongside Hamilton, but the younger Briton captured sixth and the elder foisted his way up to fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo dropped out behind Albon, as Kevin Magnussen could not join his Haas team-mate Hulkenberg into the top 10.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01 (Photo by: Erik Junius)

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu had both hauled their Saubers out of the Q1 drop zone after their second runs, but soon drifted back into the bottom five when other drivers on the cusp of elimination had improved.

This also cost Logan Sargeant who had been 12th after the initial runs, but the American could not improve on his final tour and fell to 18th.

Alpine continued to endure the early woes forecast after testing, with both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly rooted to the bottom of the timesheets throughout the session - with Gasly the only driver outside of a second's gap to Carlos Sainz's Q1 headline time.

F1 Bahrain GP - Qualifying results

Q3

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 6

1'29.179

  218.472
2 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 6

+0.228

1'29.407

0.228 217.915
3 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 6

+0.306

1'29.485

0.078 217.725
4 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 6

+0.328

1'29.507

0.022 217.672
5 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 6

+0.358

1'29.537

0.030 217.599
6 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 3

+0.363

1'29.542

0.005 217.587
7 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 6

+0.435

1'29.614

0.072 217.412
8 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 6

+0.504

1'29.683

0.069 217.245
9 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 6

+0.531

1'29.710

0.027 217.179
10 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari 6

+1.323

1'30.502

0.792 215.279

Q2

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 6

1'29.165

  218.507
2 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 5

+0.209

1'29.374

0.209 217.996
3 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 6

+0.408

1'29.573

0.199 217.511
4 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 6

+0.553

1'29.718

0.145 217.160
5 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 6

+0.636

1'29.801

0.083 216.959
6 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari 6

+0.686

1'29.851

0.050 216.838
7 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 6

+0.757

1'29.922

0.071 216.667
8 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 5

+0.767

1'29.932

0.010 216.643
9 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 5

+0.776

1'29.941

0.009 216.622
10 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 6

+0.957

1'30.122

0.181 216.186
11 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull 6

+0.964

1'30.129

0.007 216.170
12 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 6

+1.035

1'30.200

0.071 216.000
13 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 6

+1.056

1'30.221

0.021 215.949
14 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull 6

+1.113

1'30.278

0.057 215.813
15 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari 6

+1.364

1'30.529

0.251 215.215

Q1

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 6

1'29.909

  216.699
2 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 6

+0.056

1'29.965

0.056 216.564
3 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 6

+0.122

1'30.031

0.066 216.405
4 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 4

+0.234

1'30.143

0.112 216.136
5 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 5

+0.270

1'30.179

0.036 216.050
6 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 6

+0.312

1'30.221

0.042 215.949
7 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 7

+0.334

1'30.243

0.022 215.897
8 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 5

+0.441

1'30.350

0.107 215.641
9 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 6

+0.488

1'30.397

0.047 215.529
10 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 6

+0.542

1'30.451

0.054 215.400
11 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull 6

+0.572

1'30.481

0.030 215.329
12 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 6

+0.622

1'30.531

0.050 215.210
13 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull 6

+0.653

1'30.562

0.031 215.136
14 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari 6

+0.657

1'30.566

0.004 215.127
15 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari 6

+0.737

1'30.646

0.080 214.937
16 Finland V. Bottas Sauber 77 Sauber Ferrari 6

+0.847

1'30.756

0.110 214.676
17 China Z. Guanyu Sauber 24 Sauber Ferrari 6

+0.848

1'30.757

0.001 214.674
18 United States L. Sargeant Williams 2 Williams Mercedes 6

+0.861

1'30.770

0.013 214.643
19 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault 9

+0.884

1'30.793

0.023 214.589
20 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 9

+1.039

1'30.948

0.155 214.223
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