Any sense that Max Verstappen and Red Bull might run away with the Bahrain Grand Prix were dispelled as Charles Leclerc took the first pole position of the season for Ferrari.
Leclerc had switched times at the top of the leaderboard with Verstappen throughout the three qualifying sessions but sealed pole by a mere tenth of a second with a best lap of 1:30.558 seconds.
Verstappen’s final lap was not enough to eclipse Leclerc but halted an all-Ferrari front row by clocking a lap time just six thousandths of a second quicker than Carlos Sainz.
After Ferrari’s first pole since last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, Leclerc said: “It feels good. I mean the last three years have been incredibly difficult for the team. We were hopeful that this new opportunity was an opportunity to be back in the front. We’re back where we deserve, at least in the mix for the top positions.”
After a period in the doldrums, Bahrain qualifying marked their return in some style having looked the best of the rest behind Verstappen in testing last week and throughout the three practice sessions in Bahrain.
Verstappen described his first qualifying session of the season as “hit and miss” but warned Ferrari “we have a good race car which is the most important thing”.
It was not quite the disaster that some had feared for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes but, as team principal Toto Wolff had forewarned, they are not contenders for the race win.
Hamilton, who has endured brake and DRS problems throughout the build-up to the race weekend, will start Sunday’s race in fifth but he was 0.7seconds slower than Ferrari, highlighting the work that Mercedes have to do to turn themselves into championship contender.
The seven-time world champion said: “It has been a bit of a nightmare to drive, but we kept working and I’m proud of everyone. In general I’m happy where we are, it’s not the front row but we will make improvements as well as we can. The guys ahead of us are in another league. We are not in the fight with them.”
George Russell had threatened to upstage his more experienced teammate in qualifying but struggled in Q3 and ended up a second behind Hamilton in ninth.
And suggestions Valtteri Bottas might find himself dropping well down the pecking order following the switch from Mercedes proved unwarranted – at least in Bahrain – as he qualified in sixth for Alfa Romeo just a place behind his former teammate Hamilton and ahead of the man who replaced him at Mercedes.
There was an unfamiliarity to the lower order in Q3 as Kevin Magnussen qualified seventh for Haas having only been drafted into the team as a late replacement for the axed Nikita Mazepin.
The Dane had been preparing for a family trip to Miami. Instead, his wife and young daughter were in the Haas garage as he announced his return to F1 in some style.
