Max Verstappen lays down marker with masterful Bahrain F1 GP pole

Max Verstappen picks up where he left off in 2022 by putting his Red Bull on pole in Bahrain. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

For some time in the buildup to the opening qualifying session of the new Formula One season, there was a frisson of excitement in Bahrain it was impossible to ignore. Was change in the air? Might F1’s wiliest, oldest dog, Fernando Alonso, have a lesson left in him for the young pups of the new generation?

Well Alonso wagged his tail with a gleeful abandon that was infectious but when it all shook down F1’s new season pecking order remained firmly under the iron grip of Max Verstappen and Red Bull.