Formula 1 ®
GUESS WHAT? MAX ON POLE FOR THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX.
SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen qualified on the pole Friday for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix as scrutiny of Red Bull’s boss overshadows the start of the new season.
Verstappen, who won the title in each of the last three seasons, was fastest for Red Bull by .228 seconds over Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. George Russell was third for Mercedes, while Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari was fourth. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez qualified fifth.
“I think in the race it’s going to be close as well. We do look good in the race and that’s of course the most important, but we’ll see,” Verstappen said. “I’m confident we can have a strong race.”
MAX VERSTAPPEN: “It feels good to be back on pole today! Testing was really good and then this weekend was a bit more tricky for us; it was difficult to get the balance of the car right due to the tricky conditions with the wind being quite strong. Heading into qualifying, no one knew where we all stood and it was very tight, but this is exciting for the sport. We made some good improvements on the car and also improved performance from FP3 to qualifying and in Q3 we had a little bit more grip. Ultimately, I am pleased with the performance of the car and was happy to be back competing again today. Looking to tomorrow, I have a good feeling and am confident ahead of the race. We know it is about looking after the tyres in the best way possible as anything can happen in the race. We have a good race car and hopefully we can show the same performance as we did today.”
“I’m confident we did a step forward but we have to wait and see tomorrow how much of a step forward we did. We think that Red Bull is still ahead by quite a bit in the race,” Leclerc said.
Russell said he still believes Verstappen is well ahead of the rest.
“I think it’ll be a close fight between everybody other than Max,” he said.
It is the 33rd pole of Verstappen’s career, and he won 12 of 22 last season. He is seeking his eighth consecutive win dating to last season.
Aston Martin
Fernando will start P6:“It was a nice surprise tonight in Qualifying to finish sixth and a very good way to start the new season. We were cautious heading into the session, but we found ourselves competitive and in the end we were only a tenth away from the Ferraris in Q3. The car felt more connected this weekend and our fine tuning was a real positive. I think it will be very close tomorrow in the race and the fine margins between us all means how we manage everything will be key. Let’s see what we can do, but I’m confident heading into the race.”
Mike Krack
“A well-executed Qualifying session sets us up nicely for a strong race where we can compete for strong points. Our Qualifying laps were clean and tidy, and we saw just how close all the teams are this year in terms of single-lap performance. You have to really get everything right in these circumstances because every tenth of a second matters. Our focus over the winter has been to close the gap to the front and the early indications are encouraging, but it’s only the first Qualifying session of the year and we need to see how things unfold in the race. We will finally get the answers tomorrow on race performance: we’ve done our homework and have prepared well over the last couple of weeks, so let’s see what we can do.”
Mercedes
George and Lewis will start the Bahrain Grand Prix P3 and P9 respectively after a tight qualifying session in Sakhir.
Just half a second separated the top nine on the final timesheets, with both drivers setting their best lap on a new set of the Soft compound tyres at the end of Q3 – George with a 1:29:485, and Lewis with a 1:29:710.
Both cars navigated the first two sessions, though there was an anxious wait at the end of Q2 as Lewis and George were the last two cars to cross the line, and both were outside of the top 10 starting their final runs.
That meant we have had both cars in Q3 for the past 12 seasons and sets up an exciting battle tomorrow night, with little to choose between the teams during all four sessions so far this weekend.
Formula 2 ®
Maloney charges through the field to score maiden F2 victory Zane Maloney scored his first ever victory in Formula 2 as he recovered from eighth on the grid to win the Sprint Race at the Bahrain International Circuit. Maloney overtook pole-sitter Crawford on Lap 8 before going off into the distance with the DAMS Lucas Oil driver finishing second. Josep María Martí completed a comeback of his own for Campos Racing, as he finished third after starting 11th.
Crawford made a brilliant start from pole while his fellow front row starter Taylor Barnard of PHM AIX Racing lost out on the run down to Turn 1, being passed by ART Grand Prix drivers Victor Martins and Zak O’Sullivan. It proved to be a dire first lap for Barnard as he was down to ninth just as the Virtual Safety Car was called upon following a collision between Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Amaury Cordeel and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagómez. As racing went back green to start Lap 3, Crawford resisted Martins’ attempts to take the lead, while Maloney was showing good pace as he dived down the inside of Enzo Fittipaldi at Turn 11. The Rodin Motorsport driver was on a charge, using the soft tyres to his advantage and getting past the hard shod O’Sullivan for third at the start of Lap 4, and then Martins for second on Lap 6.
Zane Maloney, Rodin Motorsport “Of course, I’m very happy to win the race, we started in P8, got a great start and the team just gave me an amazing car. So, it is all down to them, and we will go for it tomorrow.”
It was proving a tough outing for O’Sullivan as he was then down to eighth after losing places to Fittipaldi, Isack Hadjar, Paul Aron, and Martí. There were more overtakes with Hadjar now making the move past Fittipaldi for fourth. Back at the front, Maloney’s charge continued on Lap 8 as he passed Crawford for the lead on the exit of Turn 4. The DAMS driver resisted Martins’ attempts to overhaul him, but their tussle was allowing Maloney to escape, the Rodin driver nearly two full seconds up the road.