Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 01, 2024 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SAHKIR, Bahrain — With the opening practices run the day prior, a day before the traditional time due to accommodating the upcoming Ramadan holiday, the Formula 1 paddock turned their attention to the final practice and the qualifying rounds that would set the field.
A battle between Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and the field was shaping up to set the grid in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The first two practice sessions of the weekend did not set expectations as to who might be the favorites of the weekend, as Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took the top times in the first and second sessions, respectively. And with only one practice that occurred in the same night-time conditions as the Grand Prix, an accurate gage of favorites had not been set yet.
Under the same sunny conditions as the first practice session, the third and final session went off without incident, just like the previous two. Teams were looking to finalize their cars before heading into the ever-important qualifying rounds a few hours later. The quiet session gave teams a couple of chances to nail down their set-ups and keep their cars as clean as possible.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz traded top times, but in the end, it was Sainz who pipped Alonso ahead of Verstappen, who broke through the Top 5 on the timing charts in practice for the first time this weekend. Behind them came the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the McLaren of Lando Norris.
Carlos Sainz (55) leaves the Scuderia Ferrari garage in his SF-24 for practice ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix
(Source: Scuderia Ferrari)
Ahead of qualifying, it seemed that favorites for the front of the grid at the end of qualifying would be either of the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc, with the Red Bull of Verstappen, Aston Martin of Alonso and the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri as the ones to watch when qualifying begins.
After teams poured through the data and finalized their set-ups for qualifying, the sun finally went down, and it all came down to the drivers to put down quick single laps to get their best possible spot for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The lights on the pit lane finally went out, and the first qualifying round officially started with cars starting to make their way out onto the track; the first teams to take advantage of the session starting were both pairs of cars for Ferrari and the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, all on sets of Medium compound tires.
Not long after that, the rest of the grid made their way out onto the track on the Soft compound tires to take their first laps in the opening round. As times started to trickle through, the Ferrari of Sainz would set the benchmark, while Free Practice 2’s fastest driver Hamilton would be getting too close for comfort to make his way into the second round. 19 out of the 20 teams bolted on a fresh set of Soft compound tires, outside of Sainz who stayed in his garage, as teams looked to solidify their spot in the first round.
Relief of a faster time from Hamilton as he made it into the second round, but it was the Alpine pair of Ocon and Gasly who were the story of the round, with both drivers at the bottom of the grid as their unruly car that could never find a good setup that suits it. The Williams of Logan Sargeant and the Kick Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu joined the Alpines.
The second round started with Verstappen, Leclerc, and Norris trading top times on their first runs; meanwhile, some surprising speed out of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg made him an exciting driver to watch to see if they could make it into the third and final round. Soon, the teams went out for their runs in the second runs, and Leclerc dropped in a solid time to make a statement that they should be favorites to pick up the pole for the Grand Prix and take it to the Red Bull and Verstappen.
While Mclaren’s Oscar Piastri slipped into the third round, it bounced out the Visa Cash App RB of Yuki Tsunoda along with his teammate Ricciardo. They were also joined by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Williams of Alex Albon. The 10 drivers were now finalized for the final round.
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on March 01, 2024 in Bahrain, Bahrain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
The lights went out for a final time, and after laying low for the prior sessions, Verstappen turned up the power to set the benchmark for the final round and laid down the gauntlet with Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell following behind. Aston Martin sent Alonso out in clear air for a single run in the final round and only found himself a tenth behind Verstappen, but he would sit on pit lane during the final runs, dropping him down the order.
Final runs went underway and Verstappen put his Red Bull in the best position possible to grab a small tow on the beginning of his lap to set a slightly better time to keep himself on the provision pole. Soon, that provisional became more solidified when the runs from Leclerc and Russell, while slight improvements, were not enough to topple the three-time World Champion.
Verstappen will roll off the grid on the pole for the 34th time in his career, with Leclerc and Russell behind. The other Ferrari of Sainz would slot in fourth, and the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez would slot in fifth after a quiet start to the weekend. Alonso fell to sixth, ahead of the McLarens of Norris and Piastri, who did not perform in the final round as expected. Hamilton and Hulkenberg round out the Top 10.
With the grid now set, all attention turns to the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix to open up the 2024 F1 season. Will the grid take the fight to Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen, or will they continue the reign of domination they have held since 2021?
