Another F1 Grand Prix, another front row lockout for Red Bull Racing

Defying pundits who tapped others, at the end of the day in Bahrain Saturday it was yet another Red Bull lockout of the front row mirroring the final race of 2022.

Reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who also took pole in the last race of the 2022 season, will lead the field at lights out for the first Formula 1 grand prix of the 2023 season for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix alongside his teammate Sergio Perez. Verstappen said he was ‘particularly happy’ with his Q3 effort.

“Because my whole weekend up until qualifying was very difficult,” he said. “I couldn’t really find the comfortable balance I had in testing, and I was just struggling a lot to just get the car together, really. I went into qualifying and everything already felt a bit better, but it was still not, let’s say, perfect.

“So yeah, I’m very, very happy. Then in Q3 we put these laps in. I still think it’s not perfect but in a better direction so for sure for the next race we will have to analyze a bit why from the test to the race it’s so difficult for us. Also, for me driving-wise. But nevertheless, we are sitting here with two cars, so coming off last year I think this is again a very strong start for us so, very happy with that.”

Despite not making a final run of Q3 to save a set of tires for the race, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will roll off third.

“A positive qualifying,” Leclerc said. “We were in the fight for pole, which we didn’t expect coming into the weekend. Several teams seem to be quite close, which makes things more exciting for drivers and fans, and I think it’s good for the sport. In terms of race pace, we could find ourselves a bit on the backfoot, as our competitors looked very strong in that area during free practice. We will give everything tomorrow and, with an extra set of fresh Soft tires, hopefully we will have a good fight.”

At the start of Q1, Leclerc was one of the first to kick off a flying lap but as the Ferrari driver began his lap a piece of his right wheel brow broke off and then, as he locked up into Turn 1, then a second piece flew off the underside of his car.

With debris on the racing line, the session was red flagged with four minutes on the clock.

Following an eight-minute delay, the session resumed, and the Red Bulls were quickly on track, along with the rest of the field. Verstappen climbed to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:31.295, but he was almost immediately eclipsed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and then by Leclerc. It was the Ferrari star’s teammate Carlos Sainz who staked the biggest claim to top spot in the opening runs with the Ferrari driver taking P1 with a lap of 1:30.993.

In the final runs of the opening segment Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and William’s Alex Albon all jumped into the top 10 but despite their advances, Sainz took top spot from Russell and Leclerc.

After Q1 Williams’ Logan Sargeant, a rookie was eliminated in P16 ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri, AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who had his final time deleted for track limits in Turn 15.

In Q2 Red Bull kept its drivers in the garage for the final runs and when it ended Leclerc took top spot with a time of 1:30.282.

Verstappen set the pace in the opening runs of the final segment going purple in the first and final sectors to set a P1 time of 1:29.897, with Leclerc second on 1:30.000. Pérez slotted into third place, 0.234 off his teammate, while Alonso took fourth place ahead of Russell.  Then Leclerc was seen exiting his car as Verstappen ran the fastest lap to secure the top spot, with Pérez able to snatch second.

Leclerc’s time was still good enough to hold onto third. Carlos Sainz meanwhile took fourth bumping Alonso, who led both FP2 and FP3, to fifth.

“The whole weekend has been very good for us so far and we are very happy to be starting inside the top five for the first race tomorrow,” Alonso said. “Last year the team found itself out of Q1 and now we are lining up fifth on the grid. Everyone in the team has done an amazing job and this is a strong baseline to build upon as we start the season. We shall see what tomorrow brings, but we have been competitive in all the sessions, and we are starting close to the podium positions. If there is an opportunity there for the taking, then we will look to capitalize on it.”

The Mercedes’ team is still looking for pace as George Russell could only manage a sixth just ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh.

Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon round out the top 10 starters.

Greg Engle

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