Well, that was a madness of a qualifying session! WOW, with these new cars it could of been anyone’s, but it looked like it was going to Max Verstappen’s but it was not…
Charles Leclerc takes his 10th pole position and second at the Bahrain International Circuit, as he beat Max Verstappen to the top spot by 0.123s. It was Carlos Sainz who took P3 making it a very strong start for the Italian team.
The top 10 are- P1: Charles Leclerc, P2: Max Verstappen, P3: Carlos Sainz, P4: Sergio Perez, P5: Lewis Hamilton, P6: Valterri Bottas, P7: Kevin Magnussen, P8: Fernando Alonso, P9: George Russell and P10 going to Pierre Gasly!
I think Lewis got the most out of the car today, where as George messed up on his last quali lap missing the breaking zone in Turn 1, hence why he qualified 9th. I would say I’m most intrigued to see how the Mercedes race pace is tomorrow and if the porpoising affects them as much as it previously has…
Mr Valterri Bottas leaves Mercedes and goes to Alfa Romeo and with his first qualifying session with the team he goes and sticks it in 6th! Definitley seems the Ferrari power unit is a lot better this year compared to last as this bring me onto…
Kevin Magnussen!! WOW. The Haas has qualifying pace! But even with a hydraulic issue K-Mag got the car into a great position in which will be his first grand prix tomorrow in over a year! His teammate done a superb job, qualifying 12th- lets hope for some masterclass overtaking from Mick tomorrow to see him in that top 10!
McLaren… My heart breaks for them- they showed so much pace in Barcelona testing, then it went downhill last week in the Official Pre-Season test with their breaks and Ricciardo having covid set them off on the back foot. Norris starts P13 and Ricciardo P18.
A quick mention for Alex Albon aswell! First time back in over a year and in a Williams so a completely new car and team to learn and he out qualifies his team mate!
Predictions for tomorrow-
I think if Charlex and Max don’t come together tomorrow afternoon then it could be Charles taking the race win- but the pair have history and have collided here…
Top 5 I think will be: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Hamilton.
I do think both Haas’ will score points tomorrow and hopefully Bottas in the Alfa Romeo too. Definitely will be interesting to see the different strategies and how the pit stops will play out with the new tyres.
Times-
Feature Race F3: 09:00am (GMT), Feature Race F2: 10:40am (GMT), Bahrain GP: 15:00pm (GMT).
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