Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix in an enthralling qualifying session which saw the entire Formula 1 field close up on the timesheets.
There was little to split many of the drivers throughout the session, but the Red Bulls were as quick as they threatened to be. Verstappen set the fastest time with Sergio Perez second, while Charles Leclerc has to settle for second place ahead of Carlos Sainz after only setting one time in Q3.
The other big story was that Aston Martin lived up to the hype. Fernando Alonso went fifth fastest and starts ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, while Lance Stroll did well to reach Q3 despite driving with pins in his injured wrist.
Q1 was disrupted by two pieces of carbon fibre falling unexpectedly off Leclerc's Ferrari, leading to a red flag while the debris was cleared. But it was only a short delay and before long the cars were back out on track still with 12 minutes of the usual 15 available to put in their flying laps.
Aston Martin lived up to the testing hype in that first part of the session, going faster than both Red Bulls to safely secure passage into Q2. And McLaren's situation remained similar to what was shown in practice, as Oscar Piastri had a dismal session and failed to get out of Q1.
Lando Norris managed to survive but only by the skin of his teeth. Logan Sargeant set the exact same time as the Brit, but Norris was first to do so and survived. Pierre Gasly finished at the bottom after having his fastest lap deleted for a track limits violation. Nyck de Vries was 19th fastest, Piastri 18th, Kevin Magnussen 17th and Sargeant will start the race 16th on the grid.
The Red Bull's didn't look all that special in Q1, but really began to flex their muscles in the second part of qualifying. Verstappen's fastest Q2 time was marginally quicker than the lap which earned Leclerc pole in Bahrain last year, while Perez was not far behind in second.
Leclerc ended up setting a faster time on his second run, but Norris was unable to survive this time. He was in 10th as the final car came across the line at the end of Q2, but Lance Stroll did enough to leapfrog the McLaren man and book his spot in Q3.
So Norris will start the Bahrain Grand Prix 11th on the grid, sharing the sixth row with Valtteri Bottas. Zhou Guanyu is one place further back alongside Yuki Tsunoda, while Alex Albon could manage only 15th after having to abandon a quick lap after exceeding track limits by some distance.
Full 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying results
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
- Alex Albon – Williams
- Logan Sargeant – Williams
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- Nyck de Vries – AlphaTauri
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
