Qualifying under the lights has kicked off for the first round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship.
Q1 Results:
Carlos Sainz lead the field Q1 after a strong FP3 as Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen round out the top three. Initial runs shows very even pace among Aston Martin, Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull, but Mercedes seems to have lost something from yesterday’s strong FP2 results.
In a surprise turnaround, both Haas drivers made it into Q2 after a questionable start to the weekend.
Drivers out in Q1:
- 16th: Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
- 17th: Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)
- 18th: Logan Sargeant (Williams)
- 19th: Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- 20th: Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Q2 Results:
It was game-on between Ferrari and Red Bull as LeClerc and Verstappen traded for the top spot with LeClerc ending up on top in a 2 for 2 night for the Scuderia. However, in order to maintain that to spot Ferrari were forced to use 3 sets of softs, limiting LeClerc’s options come Saturday during the race.
Nico Hulkenberg surprised many by pulling his Haas into the top 10 for his first Q3 appearance of the year while teammate Magnussen left empty handed in 15th position.
Drivers out in Q2:
- 11th: Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
- 12th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- 13th: Alex Albon (Williams)
- 14th: Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
- 15th: Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Q3 Results:
And it’s Max Verstappen on Pole ahead of Charles LeClerec and George Russell. The Dutchman picked up a tow from the McLaren of Oscar Piastri on the main straight and cleared LeClerc by 0.228 seconds for the first pole of 2024 and his 33rd overall.
Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso make up 4th through 6th while the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri took 7th and 8th ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg to round out the top 10.
It will be “Lights out, and away we go” tomorrow at 18:00 local time, tune in to watch the action!
FP1 Report – CLICK HERE
FP2 Report – CLICK HERE
FP3 Report – CLICK HERE
FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2024 Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (Local Circuit) |
| Feb. 29th | Practice 1 | 14:30 – 15:30 |
| Practice 2 | 18:00 – 19:00 | |
| Mar. 1st | Practice 3 | 15:30 – 16:30 |
| Qualifying | 19:00 – 20:00 | |
| Mar. 2nd | Race | 18:00 |
Qualifying Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
| 1 | 1 | Verstappen | 1:30.031 | 1:29.374 | 1:29.179 | 17 |
| 2 | 16 | Leclerc | 1:30.243 | 1:29.165 | 1:29.407 | 19 |
| 3 | 63 | Russell | 1:30.350 | 1:29.922 | 1:29.485 | 17 |
| 4 | 55 | Sainz | 1:29.909 | 1:29.573 | 1:29.507 | 18 |
| 5 | 11 | Perez | 1:30.221 | 1:29.932 | 1:29.537 | 17 |
| 6 | 14 | Alonso | 1:30.179 | 1:29.801 | 1:29.542 | 14 |
| 7 | 4 | Norris | 1:30.143 | 1:29.941 | 1:29.614 | 15 |
| 8 | 81 | Piastri | 1:30.531 | 1:30.122 | 1:29.683 | 18 |
| 9 | 44 | Hamilton | 1:30.451 | 1:29.718 | 1:29.710 | 18 |
| 10 | 27 | Hulkenberg | 1:30.566 | 1:29.851 | 1:30.502 | 18 |
| 11 | 22 | Tsunoda | 1:30.481 | 1:30.129 | 12 | |
| 12 | 18 | Stroll | 1:29.965 | 1:30.200 | 12 | |
| 13 | 23 | Albon | 1:30.397 | 1:30.221 | 12 | |
| 14 | 3 | Ricciardo | 1:30.562 | 1:30.278 | 12 | |
| 15 | 20 | Magnussen | 1:30.646 | 1:30.529 | 12 | |
| 16 | 77 | Bottas | 1:30.756 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 24 | Zhou | 1:30.757 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 2 | Sargeant | 1:30.770 | 6 | ||
| 19 | 31 | Ocon | 1:30.793 | 9 | ||
| 20 | 10 | Gasly | 1:30.948 | 9 |
