Max Verstappen started his quest for a fourth consecutive Formula 1 title on Friday with pole position during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Pre-season testing indicated that Verstappen and the overhauled Red Bull Racing RB20 were the class of the field, but Verstappen went through the three hours of practice in Bahrain without topping a session.
The season-opening event has so far been overshadowed by the fallout from the investigation into the conduct of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. Red Bull dismissed the complaint against Horner on Wednesday, with the 50-year-old team boss retaining his role, but alleged reports were leaked to the media on Thursday as the pot continued to stir.
There was finally a competitive session on Friday evening and on a floodlit and unusually cold Sakhir circuit, the world champion posted an early point in the top 10.
Verstappen then set a time of 1 minute and 29.179 seconds, finishing two-tenths of a second faster than Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
“I think it was just a very tight qualifying,” said Verstappen. “I think it was also very difficult with the wind all weekend. If you can get the lap together straight away you can find one, one and a half tenths into a corner, and I think it just, yeah, it was good for us in Q2, Q3, especially Q3 I would say, it improved a little bit more. But yeah, I think throughout qualifying you could see that the gaps were super small, and I think you never really knew who was going to be on pole heading into Q3. So I think it was very exciting to see.”
Leclerc was buoyed by his feeling that Ferrari is “closer than what it looks like on the timesheets” and revealed that “we expected Red Bull to have a little more margin than what was there today.”
But Leclerc admitted: “The biggest question mark is of course tomorrow’s race. I’m pretty sure they (Red Bull) have a little bit more margin than what we saw today. But again, let’s wait and see.”
George Russell was third fastest for Mercedes, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while Sergio Perez could not match team-mate Verstappen’s pace and languished in fifth after admitting he had made a mistake at Turn 1.
A delighted Fernando Alonso put Aston Martin sixth, a result he described as ‘a huge surprise’, while McLaren’s Lando Norris finished seventh as the chasing pack behind Red Bull Racing was closely matched.
Just 0.207 seconds involved Leclerc in second and Norris in seventh, with four different teams in the mix, signaling another tight battle, at least behind Verstappen.
“I think the race tomorrow will be very exciting with Charles, the Ferraris and Checo (Perez),” said Russell. “And we can see what we can do about Max, but right now he’s doing a fantastic job.”
Russell joked that he and Mercedes expect Verstappen to have a lead of half a second per lap in the race and the champion interjected: “I think that’s way too big.”
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had a subdued session, finishing only ninth as he revealed he had “changed the car [set-up] to hopefully make the race pace better” at the expense of one lap performance.
Hamilton described the W15 as “a very big improvement” compared to its predecessor and described Russell, who was just three tenths behind Verstappen, as “incredible”.
There was something to cheer about at Haas when Nico Hulkenberg took the VF-24 to tenth on the grid.
Haas has spent most of the pre-season campaign solving the tire problems that plagued the 2023 races. Saturday’s 57-lap meet will be the first real test of the team’s offseason work.
“Obviously tomorrow will be the real tough test, but I think we feel in a better place than last year,” said Hulkenberg. “The car also feels better than at any other point last year during long runs and race simulations, so that makes me somewhat optimistic, but I think there is still more room for improvement.”
The second half of the grid was, as expected, largely filled with players like RB, Williams and Sauber. American Logan Sargeant starts his second season from 18th on the grid.
They were joined by Alpine, who had a truly terrible start to the new campaign.
Alpine was prepared for a slow first chapter to 2024, amid an overhauled car concept, but drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were the slowest of the twenty competitors.
“We don’t like the situation as a whole, we are in this situation, I am in this situation, no one likes to be at the back, we are all competitors in this team,” Ocon said. “It is very important to be united, keep our chin up and move forward. This team created a winning car a few years ago and those ideas originated in the same places as today, Viry and Enstone. We can repeat all these things and I trust that the team will take a step forward.
F1 qualifying results
Bahrain
1, Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3, George Russel, Mercedes
4, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
5, Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
7, Lando Norris, McLaren
8, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
9, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
10, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
11, Yuki Tsunoda, RB
12, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
13, Alexander Albon, Williams
14, Daniel Ricciardo, RB
15, Kevin Magnussen, Haas
16, Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber
17, Zhou Guanyu, Kick Sauber
18, Logan Sargeant, Williams
19, Esteban Ocon, Alpine
20, Pierre Gasly, Alpine