Max Verstappen takes pole position in Bahrain, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon at the back of the grid

Max Verstappen holds his place. The Dutchman, who won his third world title last year, set the best time in qualifying for the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain, Friday March 1. He will start alongside Charles Leclerc on the front line. The Monegasque driver failed two tenths behind Max Verstappen’s best lap. Ferrari also places Carlos Sainz in 4th position, while George Russell (Mercedes) took 3rd place.

Red Bull’s dominance appears less marked than last season, with eight drivers finishing less than six tenths of a second from pole position. Lewis Hamilton, who is in his last season at Mercedes, finished in a disappointing 9th place. The start of the Bahrain Grand Prix will be given on Saturday March 2 at 4:00 p.m.

The French are struggling

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, the two French drivers from the French team Alpine, will start last and penultimate on the grid respectively. A qualifying session that was certainly disappointing, but expected given the poor performance of the A524 during winter testing.

“We knew it would be complicated, and it was not an easy session, Pierre Gasly told Canal + after qualifying. There is still a lot of work, we know it and we anticipated it. There are developments that will happen, in the meantime we have to do the best possible with what we have.” The Alpine suffers from an excess weight of ten kilos and a deficit in engine power, without however showing a very significant delay over the other teams: the French drivers were only missing around two tenths to advance to Q2.