While the previous week's Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka was very much a qualifying race, Bahrain's high degradation contest offered a better spectacle and with it more opportunities for midfield teams to make something happen.
And only just as well, as Haas started on the backfoot with a crash for Esteban Ocon in Q2 which prevented him from starting higher than 14th. His rookie team-mate Oliver Bearman, meanwhile, struggled with locking the front tyres leaving him bereft of confidence on a qualifying lap, and last on the grid.
