Max Verstappen takes Bahrain pole in worrying return to form
Max Verstappen took pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc in a return to the dominant form that took him to back-to-back world championships.
Max Verstappen returned to his championship-winning ways to take pole for the 2023 Formula One season opener in Bahrain. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)
The Red Bull driver set a lap of 1:29.708 in the final qualifying session to put to bed any thoughts that Aston Martin may have the jump on the field for the new year.
"I'm very happy to be on pole, it hasn't been the easiest weekend so far as we've been struggling to find the right balance and I've been trying to find my rhythm,” said Verstappen.
“Overall, it was quite a good qualifying, we recovered well with the performance.”
“It's great for the whole team to have a one-two start tomorrow, and to have Checo up there as well is really promising.”
“A lot of things can happen during a race as we all know, but I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do out there on track as a team.”
Max Verstappen (middle) qualified on pole position ahead of Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)
Verstappen will line up next to teammate Sergio Perez on the front row after he went second-fastest, a tenth of a second behind.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will make up the second row of the grid for Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso in fifth after setting the fastest times in the two previous Free Practice sessions.
George Russel and Lewis Hamilton were next for Mercedes, with Lance Stroll eighth to complete the Aston Martin pairing in the top ten.
Esteban Ocon was ninth fastest, with Nico Hulkenberg tenth after failing to set a lap in Q3.
The fastest laps from Saturday at the Bahrain Grand Prix - click to expand. (Pirelli)
Australian Oscar Piastri will start his first grand prix from eighteenth after failing to progress out of the first qualifying session by seven tenths of a second.
The Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix begins at 2.00am on Monday morning (AEDT).
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