Nothing new under the lights of the Sajir circuit, Max Verstappen arrived, raced and won in the Bahrain GP classification. He didn’t need to overwhelm him in free practice (he was 6th) to unleash his and his Red Bull’s full potential when push came to shove and take the first pole of the 2024 World Championship, the 33rd of his career. in F1. The Dutchman was clear, with 2 tenths of a margin over Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, the one that came closest to a fast lap.
The Spanish drivers, who had raised hopes in the morning free practice with first and second places, were signed by Carlos Sainz fourth on the grid, and Fernando Alonso sixth. Both will have good options to seek the podium in the race, advanced to this Saturday (4:00 p.m., Spanish time).
In Q1 the cards were raised for the first time, without drills or camouflage due to gasoline loads or tire differences. And after a fast lap, the fastest proved to be the Ferrari, in the hands of Carlos Sainz, who was one tenth ahead of Max Verstappen. Third was Norris’ McLaren and fourth was Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, 2 tenths away. A maximum equality among the greats, in which only Mercedes was out of tune (Russell, 7th at 4 tenths, Hamilton, 12th at 9 tenths after an error).
The script was repeated in the second round, Q2, in which Leclerc reissued the red dominance of the SF-24 by one lap, leaving Verstappen 2 tenths behind, with Sainz third. Hamilton, as he had pointed out in Free Practice 2 on Thursday, put the Mercedes in the elite, fourth, ahead of Alonso, fifth, 6 tenths away.
In the final Q3, the moment of truth, with all the meat on the grill, it was Verstappen who brought out his power and that of his Red Bull, lagging behind all weekend until that moment. The Dutchman commanded the first attempt with 59 thousandths of an advantage over Leclerc and 121 over Fernando Alonso, third. Fourth was Russell and fifth Sainz.
The first pole of the year was going to be played in a heart-stopping last lap, with the first six – even Norris – shrinking by just 2 tenths. Verstappen did not fail, he nailed the lap in 1m29s179, the best time of the weekend. The one who came closest was Leclerc, 2 tenths behind, Russell came close to 3, like Sainz, fourth, while Pérez also sneaked up on Alonso, who closed the first classification of the year sixth, surpassed by Russell, Sainz and the Mexican.
The disappointment of the first classification of the year was for Lewis Hamilton, who had started out as the fastest in testing, but faltered in Q3 with a 9th place, only ahead of Nico Hülkenberg. The two Alpines were also disappointing, 19th and 20th closing the grid.
