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VERSTAPPEN TAKES FIRST POLE POSITION OF THE SEASON AHEAD OF HAMILTON

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Verstappen takes pole position for the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix

Verstappen takes pole position for the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix! Hamilton is second with Bottas in third.

Full qualifying results for the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit, the opening round of the 2021 F1 world championship season.

2021 F1 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING RESULTS

POS.DRIVERNAT.TEAMQ1Q2Q3
1VerstappenNEDRed Bull1m30.499s1m30.318s1m28.997s
2HamiltonGBRMercedes 1m30.617s1m30.085s1m29.385s
3BottasFINMercedes1m31.200s1m30.186s1m29.586s
4LeclercMONFerrari1m30.691s1m30.010s1m29.678s
5GaslyFRAAlphaTauri1m30.848s1m30.513s1m29.809s
6RicciardoAUSMcLaren1m30.795s1m30.222s1m29.927s
7NorrisGBRMcLaren1m30.902s1m30.099s1m29.974s
8SainzESPFerrari1m31.653s1m30.009s1m30.215s
9 AlonsoESPAlpine1m30.863s1m30.595s1m30.249s
10StrollCANAston Martin1m31.261s1m30.624s1m30.601s
11PerezMEXRed Bull 1m31.165s1m30.659s 
12GiovinazziITAAlfa Romeo1m30.998s1m30.708s 
13TsunodaJPNAlphaTauri 1m30.607s1m31.203s 
14RaikkonenFINAlfa Romeo1m31.547s1m31.238s 
15 RussellGBRWilliams 1m31.316s1m33.430s 
16OconFRAAlpine1m31.724s  
17LatifiCANWilliams 1m31.936s  
18 VettelGERAston Martin1m32.056s  
19SchumacherGERHaas1m32.449s  
20MazepinRUSHaas1m33.273s  

Max Verstappen delivered on Red Bull’s pre-season potential as he beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position for Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

It marked the first time since 2013 that Red Bull has taken top spot on the grid for the first round of a season and secures back-to-back poles for Verstappen after his effort last December in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen had topped all three practice sessions, having also led the way through testing at the same venue, and he continued his strong pace through qualifying.

Verstappen edged Hamilton by just 0.023s through the first runs beneath the lights in Bahrain but both improved on their second Q3 push laps.

Hamilton moved to the front with a time of 1:29.385s but Verstappen set a new benchmark on a 1:28.997, emerging 0.388s faster than the seven-time World Champion.

Valtteri Bottas finished third in the sister Mercedes.

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Behind the leading trio AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly had fronted the midfield fight after the first runs and he even held a provisional third.

Gasly was ultimately shuffled down to fifth – itself a stellar outcome – as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished just a tenth behind Bottas en route to fouth.

McLaren took sixth and seventh, with Daniel Ricciardo outqualifying team-mate Lando Norris, while Carlos Sainz was eighth on his first outing for Ferrari.

Fernando Alonso made it through to Q3 on his comeback weekend, taking ninth, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll rounding out the top 10.

Red Bull and AlphaTauri attempted to make it through Q2 on the Medium tyres but it backfired for one driver from each team.

Sergio Perez’s first Q2 push lap was scrubbed from the board after he exceeded track limits and his second effort, also on Mediums, was not quick enough.

He missed the Q3 cut-off by 0.035s and will start his first race for Red Bull from 11th spot.

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Rookie Yuki Tsunoda shone in Q1 by classifying second but he was shuffled down to 13th in Q2.

Alfa Romeo displayed relatively year-on-year gains as Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen legitimately challenged for Q3 before winding up 12th and 14th respectively.

George Russell converted his 2020 Saturday form as he once more performed one-lap heroics for Williams in managing to make it through to Q2.

Alpine and Aston Martin both had one car out in Q1 as Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel were hampered by yellow flags in the closing moments.

Ocon classified 16th, with four-time champion Vettel 18th, split by Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.

The yellows were caused by two separate incidents, as Nikita Mazepin spun at Turn 1 while Sainz slowed exiting Turn 8 due to an engine cut-out.

For Mazepin it was his second spin of the 18-minute session after previously rotating the Haas VF-21 through Turn 13.

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He qualified last, almost a second behind fellow rookie and team-mate Mick Schumacher, who took 19th for his debut, with Haas significantly off the pace.

verstappen pole position verstappen pole position

F1 BAHRAIN GP FP3 – VERSTAPPEN COMFORTABLY LEADS

IS 2021 MAX VERSTAPPEN’S YEAR? IS HE READY FOR A TITLE?

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