It’s a new season in Formula 1, but the results seem to be much the same.
Max Verstappen took the pole for the opening round of the 2024 season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, on Friday, March 1.
It was a bit of a surprise in that Red Bull Racing had struggled with one-lap pace this weekend.
Charles Leclerc was the closest behind the Dutchman and will start alongside him on the front row in second.
“It was a lot of fun, actually.” Verstappen said in the F1 Media podium interview. “The track had a lot of grip. The wind, the last couple of days, has made it tricky to get a whole lap together. It was the same in qualifying; Q1 and Q2 you could actually go a bit faster with the track ramping up. But to get everything out of it in Q3 was a little bit difficult, but of course, happy to be on pole.”
George Russell was able to be the best of the rest, qualifying in third, and seemed to be happy with how his Mercedes is this year.
“Everyone up in the factory have done a phenomenal job to give Lewis [Hamilton] and I a car that we feel much happier with,” Russell said. “A base set we can build upon. Ultimately, Max is still out there up front. We still got some catching up to do.”
Q3
There were no issues in this round of qualifying. Fernando Alonso only made one lap, as Aston Martin Aramco decided to save a set of soft tires for the race.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
| 1. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:29:179m |
| 2. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.228s |
| 3. | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.306s |
| 4. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.328s |
| 5. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | +0.358s |
| 6. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +0.363s |
| 7. | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | +0.435s |
| 8. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | +0.504s |
| 9. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.531s |
| 10. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | +1.323s |
Q2
There were no issues, except that Kevin Magnussen had his fastest lap top deleted due to exceeding track limits. The Haas driver ended up qualifying 15th by a country mile.
Q1
There were no issues in this round of qualifying. The Alpine drivers have begun this season off on the wrong foot, qualifying both cars in the last row on the grid on pure pace.
We are now officially within the Formula 1 season after a long winter. This year’s first two races will be unique in that they will be contested on Saturdays instead of Sundays. Lights out for round one, the Bahrain Grand Prix, will come at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday,…
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