Oscar Piastri put McLaren on pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix but team mate Lando Norris could only manage sixth on the grid.
Q1
The first round of qualifying gave Red Bull a fright as both its drivers were in the bottom five after their first runs. Verstappen ran wide at the final corner on his first lap and headed for the pits. Tsunoda completed his first lap, setting a time of 1’32.096, but was dismayed to see it was immediately deleted as he strayed beyond the track limits at turn three.
That piled pressure on both drivers to deliver with their final laps. Verstappen had a wobble at the beginning of his, catching a snap of oversteer at turn two, but calmed things down from there on to set the third-quickest time. Tsunoda, who had seldom been out of the bottom five in practice, pulled out a lap when it mattered, four tenths of a second slower than his team mate but quick enough to secure a place in Q2.
Among those left behind in the first round was the driver Tsunoda replaced a week ago, Liam Lawson, now at Racing Bulls. But the most surprising elimination in the first round was Alexander Albon, a consistent points-scorer over the opening grands prix, who dropped out in 16th.
Nico Hulkenberg scraped into Q2 but left behind team mate Gabriel Bortoleto, who lost too much time in the first sector on his final run. Lance Stroll will share the back row of the grid with Oliver Bearman, who was unable to replicate the promising pace he showed in practice yesterday.
The stewards later decided Hulkenberg had exceeded track limits on the lap which originally put him in Q2. The decision came through too late for Albon to take his rightful place in the second session, though he inherited 15th place from Hulkenberg.
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Q1 result
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Q2
The second part of qualifying had only been running for a few minutes when it was brought to a stop. Esteban Ocon lost control of his Haas on the kerb on the outside of turn two, which sent him spinning into the barrier on the opposite side of the track. “I’m okay,” he reported before climbing out, though his damaged VF-25 was anything but.
The session resumed with 11 minutes left on the clock. Mercedes were slightly too eager to get their cars onto the track, prompting race control to take a look into whether Russell and Antonelli left their garages too early. Hulkenberg observed the team’s actions, calling it “dodgy.” The incident will be investigated after qualifying.
Verstappen was among those who joined the track as early as possible, but surprisingly backed out of his first run, despite being on course to set a competitive time. Once again, he and Tsunoda went into the final minutes needing to pull a lap out to progress, and once again they did, though it was very close. Q2 ended with the Red Bull pair at the bottom of the top 10, Tsunoda avoiding elimination by just 0.017 seconds.
Jack Doohan came close to denying the Red Bull driver his first Q3 appearance for the team. He fell six tenths of a second shy of his team mate’s time as Pierre Gasly impressed by ending the session third behind the McLarens. Hadjar couldn’t get his Racing Bulls into the final 10, and Hulkenberg also went out along with Ocon.
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Q2 result
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Q3
From the beginning of Q3, Russell showed he had the pace to threaten the McLaren drivers. His first effort lifted him over a second ahead of his team mate, who had a scruffy first lap.
Piastri claimed the top spot back from Russell but Norris couldn’t beat the Mercedes, setting the third-quickest time. Verstappen was slower than Tsunoda with his first run of Q3. “My brakes are just terrible,” he told race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. “I can’t brake at all. So bad.”
Antonelli tidied up his final run and temporarily hit the top of the times, but Russell pulled out another two-tenths of a second on his team mate. His benchmark time now stood at as 1’30.009, and the McLaren pair behind him knew they likely needed a sub-90 second lap to beat it.
Only Piastri managed to pull it off. A 1’29.841 secured his pole position, while Norris could only manage sixth. A superb effort by Gasly put the Alpine driver fifth on the grid, with the two championship leaders immediately behind him.
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Q3 result
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