Charles Leclerc grabbed his 1st ever pole position all the while setting a new lap record in Bahrain, with a blazing lap time of 1:27.886s. He was followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2nd place, hence making it a solid Ferrari front row lockout.
Track Conditions:
With a clear sky above the Sakhir circuit, the track temperature was 30°C while the air temperature was recorded at 25°C. With a wind speed of 3.6 kph, the humidity was recorded at 54.9%.
Qualifying 1:
As the lights went green, Alexander Albon, Robert Kubica and George Russell were the very first drivers to head out on the track. While Kubica had to abandon his timed lap, due to him going wide at turn-4, it was Albon who clocked the very first lap time of Q1, a 1:31.125s.
However, just a few minutes later, Romain Grosjean blocked a flying Lando Norris at the final turn, as the McLaren driver was about to record his first attack lap. Outraged, Norris yelled on his radio that: “Guys he just blocked me in the final corner. **********”
Albon's time was soon shadowed by Charles Leclerc, who crossed the line with a 1:28.495s. Both Vettel and Bottas soon followed in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Sebastian Vettel, then on his in lap, locked up massively at the entry of turn-1, and significantly burned his soft compound.
With only 3 minutes to go, Lewis Hamilton tried quite hard to turn a lap quicker than the Ferraris, but failed in doing so, and settled with 3rd fastest lap time of Q1.
As Valtteri Bottas crossed the line following Hamilton, it was the young McLaren star, Lando Norris who tore apart his way in between the Mercedes duo. Norris went as quick as 1:29.381s, which proved to be the 4th fastest lap time of the evening.
With the checkered flag waving, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll as well as the Williams drivers, George Russell and Robert Kubica were knocked out of Q1. It was particularly a sad end for Hulkenberg, who had rather been pretty quick throughout the 3 practice sessions with his Renault RS19.
Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen filled up the 6th, 7th and 8th spots. While the Honda powered Red Bull of Max Verstappen could only go 9th fastest with a lap time of 1:29.579s. Top 10 was rounded off with Romain Grosjean, who was 1.193s slower than Leclerc.
Qualifying 2:
The 2nd qualifying session began but it wasn't until 3 minutes later, that any driver made his way out the garage. With 12 minutes to go, Valtteri Bottas finally began his out-lap.
He was followed by rest of the 14 drivers, as the defending world champion was being released, Hamilton remarked on his radio that: “There are 10 cars ahead of me.”
While Hamilton went fastest, it was Charles Leclerc who soon lapped the circuit quicker than the Mercedes driver, and recorded a lap time of 1:28.046s. Haas' Kevin Magnussen went as quick as 1:29.017s while both of the McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz went 7th and 8th quickest.
With Max Verstappen claiming the 5th fastest lap time by then, it was Sebastian Vettel who had to settle for 6th, as a result of losing time in traffic.
With Vettel 1.187s slower than his teammate, the German was asked by his team that: “Do we go out again?” to which he replied: “Sure it’s not enough.”
As the time went out, with 1 minutes left in Q2, Grosjean began his final lap in a bid to improve. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas was also given a new set of soft compound, in order to fight the blindingly quick Ferraris.
While the checkered flag was being waved with Q2 drawing to an end, Grosjean went 7th fastest, whereas his teammate, Kevin Magnussen failed to improve on his already 5th fastest lap time.
Both the McLarens of Sainz and Norris safely made it to Q3, meanwhile Vettel went 2nd fastest on track, eclipsing Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull driver, Pierre Gasly was stunningly knocked out in Q2, as he could only go 13th quickest, in contrast to that, his much experienced teammate, Max Verstappen qualified to Q3.
Gasly reported problem with his throttle to his team, and Kimi Raikkonen set the 10th fastest lap time of the session, making him eligible to run in Q3.
Daniel Ricciardo, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat made up the 5 drivers who failed to reach Q3, and got knocked out in Q2.
Qualifying 3:
As the lights went green again, it was Kimi Raikkonen who steered his Alfa Romeo out of the garage and onto the track. Kevin Magnussen recorded a lap time of 1:28.757s soon afterwards, but that was dwarfed by Charles Leclerc, who became the first driver to do lap time quicker than 1:28 today.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas placed their cars in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively, with Hamilton going as fast as 1:28.190s.
As the time ran out, McLaren fired up the engine of Carlos Sainz again, and released both of it drivers for one last lap, to improve the times. While Bottas headed out on track, Vettel, who hadn't set any lap times in Q3 by then, began his attack lap.
With the checkered flag out in the air, Sebastian Vettel cross the line being 2nd fastest on the session. But all the eyes were set on Lewis Hamilton, as the 5 times world champion blasted his way around the track, but to no avail. The Mercedes pair had to settle for the 2nd row of the grid, Hamilton starting 3rd and Bottas starting 4th tomorrow.
Max Verstappen pushed the Haas of Kevin Magnussen down in 6th spot, as the Red Bull went 5th fastest. Carlos Sainz was able to extract some extra performance from his MCL34, and clocked a 1:28.813s, which ensured him 7th on the starting grid tomorrow.
His teammate, Lando Norris failed to exhibit the same sheer pace as in Q1, and qualified 10th on the grid. Both Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen secured themselves 8th and 9th slots on the grid, with Kimi's lap time being 1.156s slower than polesitter.
Charles Leclerc however was the star of the day, as the young Monegasque flew on his final lap, and dramatically improved on his already fastest lap time. The Ferrari driver claimed his maiden pole position, a 1:27.866s in a stunning fashion, after dominating the whole weekend so far.
It ensured Ferrari a record equalling, 62nd front row lockout, as the Scuderia has now tied both McLaren and Williams for the same record.
Final Classifications:
The Race will begin on 08:00 PM (March 30th) of Pakistan Standard Time and 10:00 AM EST (March 30th).
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