The reigning Dutch double world champion Max Verstappen will start the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday in pole position, ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez, for the first round of the Formula 1 season.
• Read also: Formula 1: main changes in 2023
• Read also: Formula 1 2023: a long season
• Read also: Formula 1: good old Fernando Alonso
The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start from the second row of the grid, on the Sakhir circuit, while the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) completes the top 5 in qualifying.
British Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will start 6th and 7th respectively, ahead of Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 8th, Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 9th and German Nico Hulkenberg, qualified 10th in the driving his modest Haas?
At Alpine, if Ocon saved the honor, his teammate and compatriot Pierre Gasly will start 20th and last for his first qualifications with the French team.
The Norman, then 17th at the end of the first part of qualifying, saw his best time canceled for going out of bounds in the first part of qualifying (Q1), where the five worst times are eliminated.
Q1 was also briefly interrupted after the first laps due to debris, particularly from Charles Leclerc’s single-seater. Time to clean the track, the Monegasque Ferrari returned to the garage to be repaired before returning to the track without incident.
The grid welcomes three novices this season, all eliminated in Q1: the American Logan Sargeant will start 16th, ahead of the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 18th and the Dutchman Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri), 19th.