Charles Leclerc took the first pole position for the 2022 Formula One World Championship ahead of defending champion Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in the qualifying session that ended in Bahrain.
Ferarri’s Leclerc was fastest in the first quarter, but Red Bull’s Verstappen hit back in the second quarter to get into the top 10 on his first try. Thus, everything was ready for the confrontation between the champion and the Scuderia in the third quarter.
And that’s when Leclerc set a brilliant record of 1m 30.558s, taking his second pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Verstappen was only able to get close to 0.123s while Sainz failed to improve on his first run, finishing third with 0.129s. In the far fourth position was Verstappen’s partner Perez.
Mercedes made it to Q3 – the only Mercedes-powered cars to do so – but couldn’t make it to the front row. Lewis Hamilton finished in fifth place and his former teammate Valtteri Bottas was unexpectedly placed sixth on the grid for Alfa Romeo.
1 Charles | 1:30.558 |
2 Max. | 1:30.681 |
3 Carlos | 1:30.687 |
4 Sergio | 1:30.921 |
5 Lewis | 1:31.238 |
For the first time since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, both Haas riders made it to Q2, but Kevin Magnussen went all the way to Q3, qualifying seventh ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. Thus, George Russell from Mercedes remained in ninth place, and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten for AlphaTauri.
The surprise eliminations in the second quarter were McLaren’s Lando Norris (13th) and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (11th) with Haas’ Mick Schumacher tied for 12th.
WATCH: Get excited about the new F1 season
Alex Albon, 14th on the grid, made it to Q2 in his first Williams appearance, while rookie Zhou Guangyu qualified 15th on his Alfa Romeo debut.
This came at the cost of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in 16th, both Aston Martin drivers (replacing Nico Hulkenberg in 17th and Lance Stroll in 19th) and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in between. Nicholas Latifi was last on the grid for Williams.
More to follow
Click here to subscribe to F1 TV for extended race coverage, exclusive shows, archived video and more.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Q1 – Ferrari outshines Red Bull, while Haas and Alfa Romeo stars
In their first runs, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz broke into first place in timekeeping, Leclerc leading his teammate by 0.096 seconds on a 1m 31.471s lap. No Scuderia driver made it to the second run, as did Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was three tenths behind and was third in the first quarter.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas caused a surprise with fourth place, 0.448 seconds back from first place, while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top five ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Okon, who finally showed himself by ditching the soft tires in FP3 .
With AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly in seventh place, eighth place Lando Norris (McLaren) was the top Mercedes-powered driver, beating out the Mercedes duo of George Russell (P9) and Lewis Hamilton (P10).
Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez missed the top ten but moved comfortably into the second quarter, ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (12th) and Haas’ Mick Schumacher in 13th, nine tenths behind the top spot. For the first time since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, both Haas cars entered the second quarter.
Leclerc hit the marker in the first quarter
Debuting for Alfa Romeo, Zhou Guanyu made it to Q2 in 14th, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon, who returned to 15th, finishing a second ahead of teammate Nicholas Latifi.
The Mercedes-powered quartet joined 16th-placed Yuki Tsunoda, who missed out on FP3 with a hydraulic problem, in the drop zone.
Neither Aston Martin made it through Q1 – spare Nico Hulkenberg in 17th and teammate Lance Stroll in 19th – leaving Latifi’s Williams in 20th. The Aston Martins split was a frustrated Daniel Ricciardo (P18) who missed pre-season testing with Covid-19.
KOs: Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Riccardo, Stroll, Latifi.
Alex Albon led Williams into the second quarter on his debut for the team
Q2 – Verstappen successfully flies to get behind Ferrari
In addition to the wide range of rule changes for 2022, riders who have passed the second quarter no longer need to use the same tires to start a race, while soft tires are now mandatory in the third quarter.
Verstappen set the fastest time of 1m 30.767s and stayed in the pits as Ferrari entered the second run. Sainz made it to second place, 0.030 seconds behind Verstappen, while Leclerc finished third, 0.175 seconds behind the defending champion.
In another Red Bull, Pérez finished fourth, 0.251 seconds back, while Mercedes’ Hamilton narrowly trailed fifth and Russell sixth.
Magnussen pulled off another stunning result for Haas with a seventh-place finish in the second quarter, but the Danish driver was then tied to the garage with a hydraulic problem. He finished ahead of Alonso and Gasly, both of whom secured entry into the third quarter.
Bottas’ late attempt put him in 10th place, meaning he missed Q3 in Abu Dhabi last time in 2016. This resulted in Okon missing Alpine’s Q3 by just 0.065s, while Haas’ Schumacher had to make do with the P12 due to an error in his flight effort.
McLaren failed to place any of the cars in the top 10 as Norris finished 13th ahead of Williams’ Albon (14th) and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou in 15th.
Knockout – Okon, Schumacher, Norris, Albon, Zhou
Verstappen hit back in the second quarter
Q3 – Scuderia vs. Verstappen
Hamilton and Russell came out first, the seven-time champion got the tow from his teammate. Hamilton outpaced Russell in his first run, but neither was in contention for pole position.
Leclerc and Sainz, however, fought for first place – and almost head to head, with Verstappen following him very closely after the first heats. Sainz had provisional pole position ahead of Leclerc and then Verstappen with the trio only 0.056 seconds apart.
However, in the second run, Leclerc improved, while Sainz did not. The driver from Monaco took first pole position since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and second in Bahrain with a time of 1m 30.556s. Verstappen was 0.123 seconds behind the flag and Sainz was 0.129 seconds behind in third place.
With Pérez back in fourth place, Mercedes’ Hamilton rounded out the top five, and his former teammate Bottas became a star again, putting his Alfa Romeo in sixth place on the grid, albeit three tenths behind Hamilton.
Seventh-placed Haas driver Magnussen was also the star of qualifying, finishing ahead of Alpine’s Alpine in eighth and Russell’s other Mercedes in ninth, although Magnussen was forced to stop on the track after his last run in the third quarter. Closes the top ten Gasley from AlphaTauri.