Verstappen will start ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and George Russell (Mercedes) after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
Bahrain Grand Prix grid: Verstappen on pole from Leclerc
What happened in Bahrain Grand Prix Q1?
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the early pace at 1m29.909s, ahead of Verstappen and Lando Norris (McLaren).
Only Sainz didn’t run again at the end of the session, although many of the frontrunners aborted their flying laps, as Lance Stroll vaulted to second in his Aston Martin with a lap only 0.056s off the pace.
Falling at the first hurdle were the Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant (Williams) and the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
Bahrain Grand Prix Q1 results: Sainz fastest from Stroll
What happened in Bahrain Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen set the early bar at 1m29.374s, over half a second ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
Leclerc took away P1 towards the end of the session with 1m29.165s, two-tenths up on Verstappen, with Sainz in third, four-tenths off the pace.
Knocked out at this point were Yuki Tsunoda (just missing Q3 by 0.007s in his RB), Stroll, Alex Albon (Williams), Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas).
Bahrain Grand Prix Q2 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen
What happened in Bahrain Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Verstappen held sway with a lap of 1m29.421s, 0.059s quicker than Leclerc. Russell (despite a big moment at Turn 6) and Sainz were next up, with just 0.005s between them. Perez was sixth behind Lando Norris (McLaren).
On the final runs, Alonso produced a solo run early on to get within 0.121s of provisional pole in third.
Verstappen got a tow from Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at the start of his final lap, helping him to a 1m29.179s to extend his pole position advantage. Leclerc produced 1m29.407s for P2, 0.228s off the pole time.
Russell was three-tenths shy of the pace for third, just ahead of Sainz’s 1m29.507s in fourth.
Perez qualified fifth, ahead of Alonso, Norris, Piastri, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas).
Bahrain Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole
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