Red Bull’s Max Verstappen eked by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the final minute of the third qualifying session to snag pole position for tomorrow’s 2021 Formula One season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. It will be Verstappen’s first-ever pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Notable drivers fell by the wayside along the way with Aston-Martin’s Sebastian Vettel – a four-time world champion – failing to get out of the first qualifying session. That surprise was followed shortly by another – Red Bull’s Sergio Perez failing to emerge from the second qualifying session.
With those contenders out of the mix, it was a wild and woolly third and final session as everybody strapped on the red-ringed soft tires and got down to business. Hamilton and Verstappen traded fastest times and just as it looked like Hamilton would emerge as the fastest, Verstappen found an extra snippet of time in the final fleeting seconds and edged Hamilton by just over three-tenths of a second to claim the pole position.
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was third-fastest as he led the best of the rest parade.
2021 Bahrain Top 10 Qualifiers
1] Max Verstappen – Red Bull
2] Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
3] Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes
4] Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
5] Pierre Gasly – Alpha Tauri
6] Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren
7] Lando Norris – McLaren
8] Carlos Sainz, Jr. – Ferrari
9] Fernando Alonso – Alpine
10] Lance Stroll – Aston-Martin