Verstappen will start ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas 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 Hamilton

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'28.997
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'29.385
3	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1'29.586
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'29.678
5	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1'29.809
6	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1'29.927
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'29.974
8	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1'30.215
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'30.249
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1'30.601
11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'30.659
12	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1'30.708
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'31.203
14	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1'31.238
15	George Russell	Williams	1'33.430
16	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'31.724
17	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1'31.936
18	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1'32.056
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1'32.449
20	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1'33.273
View full results

What happened in Q1? 

In the first session, when all cars were on track together, Bottas set the early pace at 1m31.200s but was immediately beaten by Mercedes teammate Hamilton on 1m30.617s.

That was quickly topped by Verstappen, who lapped in 1m30.499s that would remain as the fastest time of the session, while AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda then vaulted into second, just 0.108s slower than Verstappen, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc setting the fourth fastest time on his second run.

Falling at the first hurdle were Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and the Haas duo of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, the latter spinning at Turn 1 on his final lap that disrupted Ocon and Vettel in particular.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz also stopped on track, causing another yellow flag, as his car cutout after running over the kerbs at Turn 2 – the stewards noting that all times set under those yellows would be checked after the session.

UPDATE: After reviewing the laps of Ocon, Stroll, Vettel and Russell, the FIA's event stewards decided no further action was required.

Bahrain Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Tsunoda

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	3	1'30.499
2	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	3	1'30.607	0.108
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'30.617	0.118
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	6	1'30.691	0.192
5	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	6	1'30.795	0.296
6	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	3	1'30.848	0.349
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	6	1'30.863	0.364
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	6	1'30.902	0.403
9	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	6	1'30.998	0.499
10	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	5	1'31.165	0.666
11	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	5	1'31.200	0.701
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	6	1'31.261	0.762
13	George Russell	Williams	8	1'31.316	0.817
14	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	6	1'31.547	1.048
15	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	5	1'31.653	1.154
16	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	6	1'31.724	1.225
17	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	8	1'31.936	1.437
18	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	6	1'32.056	1.557
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas	6	1'32.449	1.950
20	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	7	1'33.273	2.774
View full results

What happened in Q2?

In Q2, the majority of the leading runners ran initially on the medium tyre – as each car will start on the rubber used in this session.

On the first run, Bottas set 1m30.559s, which was in turn beaten by Verstappen’s 1m30.318s and then Hamilton’s 1m30.085s. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fourth quickest but lost his time for exceeding track limits at Turn 4 and had to go again – but did so on the medium tyre.

Rivals went for the faster softs, and Leclerc went quickest on 1m30.010s, before teammate Sainz beat him by 0.001s for a shock Ferrari 1-2. Hamilton stayed third, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Bottas. Verstappen, who believed that he'd damaged his car over the kerbs in Q1, dropped to seventh.

Knocked out at this point were Perez, whose gamble to run the mediums failed badly, Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Tsunoda (who also gambled on mediums after starring in Q1), Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa) and George Russell (Williams).

Bahrain Grand Prix Q2 results: Sainz fastest from Leclerc, Perez knocked out

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time
1	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	11	1'30.009
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	12	1'30.010
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	12	1'30.085
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	12	1'30.099
5	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	11	1'30.186
6	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	12	1'30.222
7	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	9	1'30.318
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	9	1'30.513
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	12	1'30.595
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	12	1'30.624
11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	11	1'30.659
12	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	12	1'30.708
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	9	1'31.203
14	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	12	1'31.238
15	George Russell	Williams	11	1'33.430
View full results

What happened in Q3?

In the top-10 shootout, Hamilton set the early benchmark in the battle for pole with 1m29.549s but Verstappen then produced 1m29.526s to beat him by 0.023s. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was best of the rest after the first runs, but almost half a second in arrears.

On the second runs on new rubber, Bottas set 1m29.586s before Hamilton’s 1m29.385 briefly grabbed the P1 time but then Verstappen blew them all away with 1m28.997s, taking pole by almost four tenths of a second.

Leclerc was fourth fastest, ahead of Gasly, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, Sainz, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.

Bahrain Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	6	1'28.997
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'29.385	0.388
3	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	6	1'29.586	0.589
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	3	1'29.678	0.681
5	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	6	1'29.809	0.812
6	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	6	1'29.927	0.930
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	6	1'29.974	0.977
8	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	6	1'30.215	1.218
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	3	1'30.249	1.252
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	3	1'30.601	1.604
View full results