F1 Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Surge to Pole Position

It’s a new season but there’s a familiar face at the front of the starting grid. Max Verstappen began his quest for a three-peat with pole position for Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Autoweek rounds up the main talking points.

Emphatic Red Bull Qualifies 1-2

It was expected after testing that Red Bull Racing held the aces in 2023, and the first qualifying session of the year delivered on such suggestions.

Max Verstappen surged to pole position while teammate Sergio Perez slotted into second to create an all-Red Bull front row for the opening race of the season. That result was achieved despite both drivers not being fully at ease with the RB19 through until qualifying—and as such it bodes well for the team’s defense of both Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.

“I’m particularly happy because my whole weekend up to qualifying was very difficult,” said Verstappen. “I couldn’t really find the comfortable balance I had in testing, I was struggling a lot to get the car together really, and went into Q1 and everything felt a bit better, but was not perfect, so yeah very happy. Then in Q3, we could put these laps in. I still think it’s not perfect but a better direction, for sure for the next race we’ll have to analyze (why) from the test to the race it’s different for us and for me driving-wise.

“We are sitting here with two cars, coming off last year, this is a very strong start for us, so I’m happy for that.”

Verstappen added that “normally [the race] should be our stronger point [compared to] the one-lap pace so hopefully we can show that again tomorrow.”

Second-placed Perez echoed Verstappen’s sentiments on Red Bull’s situation.

“We found quite a different car to what we had in testing,” said Perez. “We don’t understand it, [maybe it is] wind, temperature, many variances. Maybe after the weekend we will have a bit more of an idea but for now we’ll focus on tomorrow.”

Red Bull enters Sunday’s Grand Prix as the firm favorite.

Aston Martin Hype Fades

Aston Martin stole the show on Friday though pacesetter Fernando Alonso swiftly played down his prospects of fighting for pole position. That proved pertinent but the AMR23 was still in the mix for much of qualifying.

Aston Martin wound up as the third-best team in qualifying, with Alonso fifth, only 0.6 second off pole position. That represents a sizeable year-on-year improvement for a team that spent last season marooned in the midfield.

“It was amazing,” said Alonso. “The whole weekend has been unreal for us. It was like too good to be true, every session and every performance of the car. In qualifying our expectation was to be around half of a second from Red Bull... I think we are half a second or sixth-tenths from Red Bull. So it was quite right. I don’t know what to say because eight months ago the project was just a bet but now to be at race one with a completely new car, which I think we still need to unlock a lot of potential to be in the top five, fighting with Ferrari and Mercedes, it seems a little bit unreal. But we’ll take it for sure.”

Alonso believes Aston Martin can legitimately fight for a podium on Sunday.

“We thought to be honest that the first three teams were untouchable this year with the advantage they had last year,” he said. “Maybe [the aim would be to] try to lead the midfield or mix in the midfield... now we are saying we start P5 and maybe we fight with the Ferraris for the podium. This is just incredible. Let’s keep working, keep feet on the ground and execute the race in the best way possible, no mistakes, good start, good pit stops, let’s see where we are. But yeah, right now we are living a dream.”

A slightly banged up Lance Stroll, who revealed he also suffered a broken toe in the pre-testing cycling accident that injured his wrists, was eighth in the sister car.

Ferrari Takes the Second Row

Ferrari was more in the mix than it expected, locking out the second row, with Charles Leclerc labelling the result “a good surprise” for last year’s Bahrain GP victors.

Leclerc only ran one lap in Q3 as Ferrari opted to save a set of tires for the race—indicating that it is slightly less confident in its race pace and consequent tire degradation over an elongated stint. “They are very quick,” said Leclerc of Red Bull’s race simulation, while also highlighting Aston Martin’s speed.

Why the SF-23 was a more competitive proposition is something Ferrari still needs to get its heads around.

“We need to look into that and as much as we need to understand the bad days we also need to understand the good days as that’s how we will improve,” said Leclerc.

Carlos Sainz, who was fourth, was encouraged by Ferrari’s one-lap pace – especially after a tricky Friday—though was similarly cautious over the SF-23’s Sunday prospects.

“I think Red Bull will be very strong tomorrow,” said Sainz. “If in qualifying they are one step [ahead], in race pace, it looks like they’re one and a half steps [ahead]. We will see. We’ll try everything we can to challenge them, you need to race them, there can always be safety cars and things going on that are different.”