Max Verstappen shook off the sandbags and scythed through the off-track maelstrom enveloping Red Bull to clinch pole position for the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix by two-tenths ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen was behind in both Q1 and Q2 but went fastest with his first lap of Q3 and improved yet again on his final attempt, sounding almost surprised with the pole position on his team radio.
Ferrari‘s challenge faltered slightly as George Russell beat Carlos Sainz to third by two-hundredths, with Sergio Perez rounding out the top five but almost four-tenths behind his teammate.
And McLaren‘s predicted struggles also continued, both cars reached the final session but they had to settle for seventh and eighth – behind Fernando Alonso but ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton needed improvements on his final laps of both Q1 and Q2 to reach the top 10 shootout but couldn’t recreate a similar rise at the end of Q3, beating only Nico Hulkenberg with his last lap of the day.
The concern over RB‘s pace ultimately appears much ado about nothing as neither car reached Q3 – though Yuki Tsunoda missed out by just 0.007 seconds behind Oscar Piastri. Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon and Lance Stroll were the other Q2 eliminations.
More from the Azerbaijan GP
Catch up with Total Motorsport’s latest Azerbaijan GP coverage, including George Russell’s dramatic Baku victory, the full race classification, the fastest lap result, and the Driver of the Day from the 2026 race.
The Haas duo were the surprise survivors into Q2 while Logan Sargeant‘s qualifying woes continue from 2023 – he’s still yet to outqualify teammate Albon in his F1 career and both Saubers were also casualties of the first session.
Alpine‘s ultimate nightmare came true – not only were both cars eliminated in Q1, they were the bottom two qualifiers of the whole session for the first time since the 2016 Azerbaijan GP with Pierre Gasly the only driver in the session a second behind the pacesetter.
“Only round 1, only round 1, we keep pushing and there’s a race tomorrow. I’ve got faith in you guys”
Esteban Ocon’s team radio at the end of Q1
After you! No no after you
Aside from the competitive order, queuing problems were the big talking point from the first qualifying of the year. All three sessions saw drivers going extremely slowly at the end of the pitlane, leaving their garage early to avoid being held up by cars in front but then dawdling in the pitlane to hit the track at the optimum time.
Several drivers got on the radio to complain about the slow-moving traffic – including Verstappen – after the weekend’s race director’s notes had specified the minimum lap time for outlaps would apply to the pitlane too.
“The guys in front of Carlos are stopping, we are not allowed to stop normally,” Leclerc said over the radio in Q2.
However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes the current rules need revisiting for the other 23 races of the season.
“I think we’ll have to review that and see how we can improve that because it is a bit messy in the pitlane,” Brown told Sky Sports F1. “You know what it’s like, everyone wants to see who goes out first and when.”
