12/04/2025 19:15
Oscar Piastri soared to pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix,
beating George Russell by one-and-a-half tenths of a second under
the lights in Sakhir. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc rounded out
the top three, with Kimi Antonelli and Pierre Gasly completing the
top five. Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lewis
Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda all reached the final section of
qualifying at the Bahrain International Circuit and will line up
for the grand prix in that order. Esteban Ocon caused a brief
interruption to the session with a red flag after crashing his Haas
at the start of Q2. He will line up P15. There was confusion during
Q3, when it became apparent Nico Hulkenberg committed a track
limits violation in Q1 and should have been eliminated instead of
Alex Albon, who was robbed of the chance to take part in the second
part of the session. Check out the full qualifying report for the
Bahrain Grand Prix below. Q3 The start of Q3 saw a mix of runners
put in backer push laps on used and brand new soft compound tyres,
headlined by Piastri, who went into provisional pole. Russell
separated the two McLaren's with a strong effort, ahead of the
Ferraris and Mercedes team-mate Antonelli. Further back, Tsunoda
bettered Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, who made a mistake into the
first corner and was four tenths slower than the Japanese driver in
tenth. The pair had Gasly and Sainz in between. More to follow...
Q2 Ocon brought the red flag out only a few minutes into the second
part of qualifying following a high-speed crash after getting
beached on the kerb on the exit of Turn 2. The Frenchman was sent
careering into the barriers near to where former Haas driver Nikita
Mazepin did only a couple of corners into his F1 debut in 2021 and
opposite to Romain Grosjean's scary, fiery accident for the
American team at the end of the previous season. It froze the
session clock at 11:01 remaining, with no lap times on the timing
board. A number of cars, including both Mercedes, were already on
push laps, thus compromising a set of tyres. When the session
resumed, McLaren continued their comfortable control of
proceedings, with Piastri going fastest from Norris. Verstappen had
been on what appeared to be a strong first push lap, but filtered
into the pits before setting a time. The Dutchman joined a host of
drivers who opted not to set a banker lap, including Hamilton and
Tsunoda. Piastri did not need to set a second lap, whilst Gasly
pulled out a stunning effort to go third fastest behind the papaya
pair. Tsunoda just made it through to Q3 in P10, just behind
Verstappen and at the expense of Jack Doohan, who qualified P11.
The Australian displaced Isack Hadjar in the final moments, who
will line up P12. The Racing Bulls driver finished the session
ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and the stricken Ocon.
However, the Stake driver had his lap time deleted and was sent
back to P15 after the end of Q2. Unusually, it transpired that
Hulkenberg's track limits violation was for Q1, meaning Albon
should have progressed. Retrospectively, the German was put pack to
P16, with Albon elevated. That will be no saving grace to the
Williams driver, who was denied the opportunity to participate in
Q2. Out in Q2: P15 - Albon (did not run), P14 - Ocon, P13 - Alonso,
P12 - Hadjar, P11 - Doohan Q1 Lance Stroll was the first driver to
have a lap time deleted at the Bahrain International Circuit only a
handful of minutes into the first section of qualifying, a waste of
a set of soft compound tyres. Verstappen also had a messy start to
the session, locking up into the final two corners and ruining his
first attempt at a push lap. He headed straight into the pits.
Moments later, Red Bull team-mate Tsunoda had his lap time deleted
for track limits at the same sequence of turns. However, it was not
an optimal time, going slower than the Alpine of Doohan - something
Hamilton and Russell found themselves falling short of as well.
After the first round of push laps, Norris led Piastri atop the
timing boards, with Leclerc and Antonelli ahead of Alonso in fifth
and Doohan in sixth. Verstappen pulled a strong lap out the bag at
the death to get through with the third-fastest time. In the drop
zone, Ollie Bearman never quite got going and will start the
Bahrain Grand Prix last, alongside Stroll. By going out in Q1, the
Canadian equalled Kevin Magnussen's record of most exits from the
first segment of the grid-setting session with 74. Gabriel
Bortoleto and Liam Lawson, who had a problem with DRS, went out in
P18 and P17, respectively. Alex Albon suffered a rare qualifying
disappointment, getting bumped into the elimination places in the
final moments by Nico Hulkenberg, who went through in P15. Out in
Q1: P20 - Bearman, P19 - Stroll, P18 - Bortleto, P17 - Lawson, P16
- Hulkenberg (incorrectly advanced to Q2 ahead of Albon)
