(Sakhir) Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari surprised reigning champion Max Verstappen by taking the lead position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first of the season.
Posted at 12:14 p.m.
The Red Bull was 15 thousandths ahead of Leclerc at the last split, but Verstappen lost ground in the final stretch, finishing 123 thousandths behind the Ferrari.
This is Leclerc’s 10th career pole.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton climbed a few places on his last lap, but could do no better than place his Mercedes in a disappointing fifth place on the starting grid, behind Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull).
Valtteri Bottas, ex-Hamilton team-mate, took sixth place in his Alfa Romeo. His replacement at Mercedes, George Russell, finished with the ninth fastest time.
Canadians Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi will take the last two places on the grid. Stroll could not place his Aston Martin in a better position than 19th, two rows behind his teammate Nico Hülkenberg, called up to replace Sebastian Vettel, excluded due to a positive test for COVID-19.
Latifi (Williams) will start from 20th place.