Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position in a thrilling qualifying session at the start of Formula 1’s new era.
After a difficult session Leclerc put it all together for his final lap and beat the world champion by 0.123 seconds at the Bahrain Grand Prix.Carlos Sainz had earlier been the faster Ferrari driver but slipped down to third, just 0.129secs off pole.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.Hamilton was 0.680secs off pole as Mercedes’ pre-event predictions that they were not yet on the pace proved correct.
His new team-mate George Russell was ninth after making an error at Turn One on his only lap in the final session of qualifying.
Russell was beaten by his predecessor at Mercedes Valtteri Bottas, an impressive sixth in his first race for the Alfa Romeo team, ahead of the equally impressive Kevin Magnussen on his return to F1 with the Haas team after a year away.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was eighth ahead of Russell, with Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly taking the final place in the top 10.
Full Qualifying Results
