F1 2023 Bahrain: Verstappen on pole position ahead of Perez

The defending champions, Red Bull and Max Verstappen secured a one-two starting position ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix with the Dutchman in pole position.

• All three rookies of the 2023 season were knocked out of Q1 as Williams’ Logan Sargeant finished P16 ahead of Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri) in P19 and P20. 
• Although Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ended the session in P17, the Frenchman exceeded track limits and will now start the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix in last place. 
• Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was seen out of his SF-23 in the dying moments of Q3, and out of qualifying, but it was reported it wasn’t a technical nor mechanical issue: they simply wanted to save a set of new tyres for the race.

Q1

As the first qualifying session approached, the two Alpha Tauri drivers of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck De Vries barrelled out of their garages and waited patiently at the pit exit. The Alpha Tauri drivers were soon joined by both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz but the Scuderia were found to be on the yellow-walled medium compound tyres.

Naturally, the Alpha Tauri drivers were the first to set a lap time on the board. However, Leclerc had to abort his first flying lap as a couple of pieces of carbon fibre disconnected themselves from the SF-23. As a result of the lying carbon fibre, race control opted to red-flag the session.

The session soon went back to green-flag conditions shortly after it was red-flagged. In a different manner, the Williams of Alexander Albon headed a fairly large queue that consisted of a mix of teams such as Red Bull, Haas and Alfa Romeo. The rest of the field quickly followed suit to get their banker laps in.

After the first set of runs, Sainz stood at the top of the timing boards ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Leclerc who were second and third respectively. Aston Martin’s star man of the weekend, Fernando Alonso, sat in P4 ahead of both Red Bull’s: Max Verstappen (P5) and Sergio Perez (P6).

Of the final runs, Sainz was the only driver to remain in his respective garage after he set the fastest time on the board.

Eliminated: 

20. Pierre Gasly, Alpine *lap-time deleted for track limits

19. Nyck De Vries, Alpha Tauri

18. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

17. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

16. Logan Sargeant, Williams

Q2

Unlike Q1, when the pit exit light went green no one was eager to head out on track. After nearly three minutes, a bulk of the remaining 15 drivers ventured onto the circuit, quickly followed by the rest of the field.

After the first set of runs, Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou led those in the elimination zone, ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) and Alexander Albon (Williams). However, Albon was yet to get out on track to set a lap time on the board.

At the top of the table, Verstappen and Perez occupied first and second ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in third.

When the drivers returned to the pit lane, Albon made full use of the circuit being empty to try and put in a lap time. Unfortunately, after the London-born Thai driver went wide on the exit of turn four and passed track limits. The Williams driver immediately returned to the pits and ended his qualifying session.

When Albon returned to the pits, the remaining drivers ventured back out for a second attempt, where Leclerc topped the timing boards ahead of Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell in second and third respectively.

Eliminated

15. Alexander Albon, Williams

14. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

13. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo

12. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

11. Lando Norris, McLaren

Q3

In a similar fashion to Q2, when the pit exit light went green no one jumped at the chance to peel out onto the circuit to get their banker laps in for pole position. However, after a minute’s time, Red Bull lit up Verstappen’s engine to become the first driver out on track in Q3.

With 10 minutes on the clock, only five drivers were out on track both Red Bulls and Ferraris, alongside the Aston Martin of Stroll. The other half of the field remained content within their respective garages.

After the first five drivers completed their lap times, Verstappen out on top with a 1:29.897, four more drivers peeled out onto the track. Alonso led the second group out, ahead of Russell, Hamilton and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. Esteban Ocon remained in his garage as the first five drivers out on track returned to the pit lane.

Despite being sat in second place, alongside Verstappen, Leclerc was seen out of his Ferrari to end his qualifying session early. However, it was reported the team opted to save the tyres in a bid to withhold a set of soft tyres for the race.

Top 10:

10. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

9. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

8. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

6. George Russell, Mercedes

5. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

4. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

2. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s all for the article; F1 2023 Bahrain: Verstappen on pole position ahead of Perez!

Who do you think will lead the race at the first corner? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• 2023 Bahrain GP: Alonso goes 0.005s faster than Verstappen in FP3
• F1 2023 Bahrain GP: Alonso fastest ahead of Verstappen in FP2
• Lance Stroll due to race in 2023 Bahrain GP
• Susie Wolff appointed Managing Director of F1 Academy
• F1TV has unveiled new updates for fans ahead of 2023 season
• F1 2023 Bahrain GP Preview

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