Piastri claims pole position in Bahrain as Norris falters | Report

Sebastian Alston
Apr 12
4 min read

Updated: Apr 14

Oscar Piastri ensured his early dominance in Bahrain continued with a scintillating lap to take pole ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Oscar's time of 1:29.841 saw him a tenth and a half ahead of George Russell, however Lando Norris, who had looked to be Oscar’s closest rival, made a mistake on his final run to only cross the line P6.

The Aussie who had looked quick all weekend, topped the timings in Q2 and took provisional pole after the first flying laps in Q3.

Speaking afterwards, Oscar said: "I felt confident out there pretty much all weekend. FP1 was an experience for us all I think, it felt more like a rally car than an F1 car but from then on I felt really comfortable with the car.

"In FP3 we had good pace, qualifying the others caught up a little bit closer than I wanted but I still delivered the laps when it mattered which is the most important thing at the end so I’m very happy."

George Russell who once again went under the radar in P2 said: "If anyone said we'd have been within half a second of the McLarens, we would've taken it because we would've thought that would be P3 on the grid. To be second on the grid is a bonus; congrats to Oscar, great lap and I'm excited for tomorrow now.

"The strides were being made with the night time coming in and the track temperature getting a little bit cooler. We saw it this morning in FP3 when it was roasting hot, the McLarens were down the road. But now, when the session unfolded, we seemed to be getting quicker.

"To line up P2 is a great chance tomorrow but I think if we're being realistic, it'll be a challenge to fight with Oscar."

Kimi Antonelli had his best qualifying to date in F1 with a brilliant P4, just two-tenths off Russell, whilst Pierre Gasly delivered for Alpine and he’ll line up P5 for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Kimi had been predicted to go well this weekend, as Bahrain offered the Italian his first chance to race in F1 at a track he knew well, and he delivered clinching a second-row start.

As for Pierre, Alpine had also been predicted to go better around Bahrain after their strong showing in testing, however, few would have predicted a P5 start for the only side without a point this season. Pierre looked incredibly strong in the middle sector which was enough to fire him up the order.

Speaking on his chances of the team's first points tomorrow, Pierre said: "It's not guaranteed, it's extremely close, it's a circuit where you can overtake, it's very different from Japan.

"We have to stay very focused for tomorrow, prepare well for the race and the strategy. What's good is to see that on this track the car is competitive and I'm excited.

It's important for us to get these first points tomorrow. We'll do everything we can to do it."

Both Red Bull’s struggled, with Max Verstappen only quick enough for P7 and teammate Yuki Tsunoda in P10, nine-tenths off Max in Q3. The pair had multiple laps deleted throughout the qualifying session, laying testament to the difficulty of the RB21.

Carlos Sainz made it through to Q3 and will line up P8 for tomorrow’s GP, ahead of the man who replaced him at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton who struggled down in P9.

Earlier in the session, Esteban Ocon brought out the Red Flag and an end to his qualifying in Q2 after a high-speed crash into turn 2, losing it over the kerbs.

It compromised Yuki Tsunoda, who was just at the end of his first flying lap on a brand new set of soft tyres however he managed to squeeze through to Q3 for the first time at Red Bull in P10.

Jack Doohan impressed to come home P11 and narrowly missed out on his first Q3 appearance by just 0.017s, whilst Isack Hadjar couldn’t keep up his run of Q3 appearances as he crossed the line P12.

Jack was quick throughout the qualifying session, also impressing in Q1 to comfortably make his way through to the next round.

In Q1, the big shock was Alex Albon, who was out-qualified by teammate Carlos Sainz for the first time this season.

James Vowles said the traffic, and thus inability to get in a fast prep lap, prevented Alex from making it through to Q2.

Confusingly, Nico Hulkenberg had a lap time deleted in Q1, however, this was by the time Q3 had started meaning Alex Albon should have made it through to Q2.

Elsewhere Lance Stroll, who had put in impressive performances in Melbourne and Shanghai, was knocked out in Q1 for the second week running.

One of the other big shocks from the first part of qualifying was Ollie Bearman, who qualified plumb last after making it all the way to Q3 last week in Japan.

Liam Lawson had a problem with DRS which seemed to cost him a place in Q2, but it means he has been knocked out in Q1 in 3 of the 4 races so far this season.

Full Results:

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

2. George Russell (Mercedes)

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

4. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

5. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

6. Lando Norris (McLaren)

7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

8. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

9. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

11. Jack Doohan (Alpine)