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Formula 1 Bahrain GP

F1 qualifying results: Verstappen takes Bahrain GP pole

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, on Saturday.

Verstappen will start ahead of Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

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Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Perez

Pos Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'29.708  
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'29.846 0.138
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'30.000 0.292
55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'30.154 0.446
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'30.336 0.628
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'30.340 0.632
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'30.384 0.676
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'30.836 1.128
31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'30.984 1.276
10  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'31.055 1.347
11  4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'31.381 1.673
12  77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'31.443 1.735
13  24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'31.473 1.765
14  22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'32.510 2.802
15  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes - -
16  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'31.652 1.944
17  20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'31.892 2.184
18  81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'32.101 2.393
19  21 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'32.121 2.413
20  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'32.181 2.473

What happened in Bahrain Grand Prix Q1?

Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) set the early pace at 1m32.132s before a red flag was required for Leclerc losing a sizeable chunk of his Ferrari’s right-front brake duct as he started his first flying lap.

After the resumption, all 20 cars hit the track. Verstappen lapped in 1m31.295s before Fernando Alonso pipped him with 1m31.158s. The fastest time then tumbled, with Leclerc taking P1 with 1m31.094s before George Russell (Mercedes) took it on 1m31.057s and then Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) snatched it with 1m30.993s.

Falling at the first hurdle were Logan Sargeant (Williams, who matched Lando Norris’s time exactly but set his lap later), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine, who lost his 17th-fastest time due to exceeding track limits and will start last).

Bahrain Grand Prix Q1 results: Sainz fastest from Russell

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'30.993     214.117
2 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'31.057 0.064 0.064 213.967
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'31.094 0.101 0.037 213.880
4 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1'31.158 0.165 0.064 213.730
5 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'31.184 0.191 0.026 213.669
6 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1'31.204 0.211 0.020 213.622
7 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'31.295 0.302 0.091 213.409
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'31.400 0.407 0.105 213.164
9 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 1'31.461 0.468 0.061 213.021
10 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'31.479 0.486 0.018 212.980
11 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1'31.504 0.511 0.025 212.921
12 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'31.508 0.515 0.004 212.912
13 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'31.543 0.550 0.035 212.831
14 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1'31.615 0.622 0.072 212.663
15 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'31.652 0.659 0.037 212.578
16 United States Logan Sargeant Williams 1'31.652 0.659 0.000 212.578
17 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 1'31.892 0.899 0.240 212.022
18 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren 1'32.101 1.108 0.209 211.541
19 Netherlands Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1'32.121 1.128 0.020 211.495
20 France Pierre Gasly Alpine 1'32.181 1.188 0.060 211.358

What happened in Bahrain Grand Prix Q2?

Lewis Hamilton set the initial pace for Mercedes at 1m30.901s, until Verstappen unleashed a 1m30.503s and team-mate Perez got within a quarter of a second of him for an early Red Bull 1-2.

With both Red Bulls staying in the garage for the final runs, Leclerc took the P1 spot with 1m30.282s, two tenths quicker than Verstappen. Russell was third, ahead of Hamilton, Sainz and Alonso.

Knocked out at this point were Lando Norris (McLaren), the Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, Tsunoda and Alex Albon (Williams).

Bahrain Grand Prix Q2 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'30.282     215.803
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'30.503 0.221 0.221 215.276
3 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'30.507 0.225 0.004 215.267
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'30.513 0.231 0.006 215.253
5 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'30.515 0.233 0.002 215.248
6 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1'30.645 0.363 0.130 214.939
7 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'30.746 0.464 0.101 214.700
8 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1'30.809 0.527 0.063 214.551
9 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'30.914 0.632 0.105 214.303
10 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'31.127 0.845 0.213 213.802
11 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 1'31.381 1.099 0.254 213.208
12 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1'31.443 1.161 0.062 213.063
13 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1'31.473 1.191 0.030 212.993
14 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'32.510 2.228 1.037 210.606
15 Thailand Alex Albon Williams        

What happened in Bahrain Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen took provisional pole with 1m29.897s, a tenth faster than Leclerc who managed a 1m30s-flat. Perez was third, ahead of Sainz (who had a big moment at Turn 8) and Stroll.

Alonso and the Mercedes duo ran later, with Alonso and Russell jumping ahead of Sainz to take fourth and fifth respectively at this point, with Hamilton only managing seventh.

Leclerc exited his car before the final runs, deciding to save tyres, allowing the Red Bulls a free shot to go faster. Verstappen produced 1m29.708s to extend his advantage at the front, with Perez beating Leclerc’s time to take second, 0.138s down on his team-mate.

Sainz managed fourth at his final attempt, to line up behind Leclerc but ahead of Alonso, Russell, Hamilton, Stroll, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas).

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Bahrain Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole

Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'29.708     217.184
2 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'29.846 0.138 0.138 216.851
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'30.000 0.292 0.154 216.480
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'30.154 0.446 0.154 216.110
5 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1'30.336 0.628 0.182 215.674
6 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1'30.340 0.632 0.004 215.665
7 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'30.384 0.676 0.044 215.560
8 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'30.836 1.128 0.452 214.487
9 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'30.984 1.276 0.148 214.138
10 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Haas        

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