2024 Bahrain Grand Prix – Looking Back at Friday’s Running in Bahrain

The first Qualifying session of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season took place on Friday evening at the Bahrain International Circuit, and it was Max Verstappen who took top spot despite not having led any of the free practice sessions prior to Qualifying hour.

Prior to Qualifying, the final free practice took place in Bahrain, and Carlos Sainz Jr. ensured Scuderia Ferrari made it three different teams to lead the way across the three practice sessions, none of which were last years’ dominant team Oracle Red Bull Racing.

Let’s take a look at what happened across Friday in Bahrain.

Sainz Heads Final Practice, Red Bull Finding Pace

After seeing Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton lead the first two practice sessions in Bahrain on Thursday, Ferrari hit the top in the final session, with Spaniard Sainz heading the field with a best time of 1:30.824.

Fernando Alonso ensured it was a Spanish one-two at the top of the time sheets, with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team driver hitting the top with a time of 1:30.965 before Sainz found a time 0.141 seconds faster.

After appearing to struggle on Thursday, Verstappen was able to get to within a quarter of a second of Sainz’s best time to show that Red Bull do have a competitive car after all in Bahrain, although team-mate Sergio Perez was only eighth in the second RB20.

Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest in the second Ferrari, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were an encouraging fifth and seventh for the McLaren F1 Team, either side of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s George Russell.

Nico Hülkenberg continued to show that the one-lap pace of his MoneyGram Haas F1 Team car is strong by putting his car into ninth, while Lance Stroll put his Aston Martin into tenth, just ahead of Visa CashApp RB’s Daniel Ricciardo.

After pacing Thursday evening’s session, Hamilton struggled for pace in the second Mercedes and ended only twelfth fastest, albeit only 0.628 seconds back on Sainz’s pace setting time, while the top fourteen drivers were all within a second.

At the back, Williams Racing and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber appear to be lacking in pace, while the BWT Alpine F1 Team are worryingly slow, with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly eighteenth and twentieth respectively in a car that appears to both overweight and difficult to drive.

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	TIME
1	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	1:30.824
2	14	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team	1:30.965
3	1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:31.062
4	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1:31.094
5	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1:31.118
6	63	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:31.190
7	81	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	1:31.210
8	11	Sergio Perez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:31.248
9	27	Nico Hülkenberg	GER	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1:31.278
10	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team	1:31.396
11	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Visa CashApp RB	1:31.449
12	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:31.452
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Visa CashApp RB	1:31.631
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1:31.671
15	23	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams Racing	1:31.965
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1:32.000
17	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1:32.096
18	31	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1:32.124
19	2	Logan Sargeant	USA	Williams Racing	1:32.125
20	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1:32.382

Verstappen Storms to Pole Position, Leclerc on Front Row

Q1 – Alpine, Stake and Sargeant Eliminated

The fears at Alpine were confirmed on Saturday evening, with both Ocon and Gasly finding themselves eliminated, and moreover, both find themselves on the back row of the grid. 

Gasly will take heart as he started in the same position twelve months ago and was able to fight through to the points, but the Alpine continues to look a handful to drive and both Frenchmen at the team will perhaps need some luck to score points in Bahrain.

Also eliminated at the first hurdle was Logan Sargeant, the Williams Racing driver set to start eighteenth as he was once again outqualified by team-mate Alexander Albon, who made it into Q2.

Stake also found themselves with both cars eliminated, with Valtteri Bottas outqualifying team-mate Zhou Guanyu by just 0.001 seconds.  Bottas was 0.110 seconds behind a time that would have seen through into Q2, while Sainz led Stroll at the top.

Q2 – RB, Stroll Amongst those Knocked Out

After making it through to Q2, Kevin Magnussen was unable to advance into Q3, with the Haas driver slowest of everyone in the second session by more than a quarter of a second. 

Ricciardo was only fourteenth in the RB, just behind Williams’ Albon, while Stroll couldn’t replicate his performance from the opening session and ended up only twelfth fastest.  The final driver eliminated was RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who missed out on a top ten shootout appearance by just 0.007 seconds to McLaren’s Piastri.

Leclerc led the way at the top with a time of 1:29.165, just ahead of Verstappen and Sainz, while McLaren made it into the top ten for the first time in Bahrain since 2021.

Q3 – Verstappen to the Fore as Red Bull Show Their Hand

Without topping any session up until Q3, Verstappen took pole position in Bahrain for a second consecutive season with a best time of 1:29.179, a time 0.228 seconds clear of Leclerc.

Ironically, Leclerc’s best time in Q2 was quicker than Verstappen’s pole time, but the Ferrari was unable to replicate that lap when it mattered, with the Monegasque driver forced to settle for a place on the front row.

Russell will start third for Mercedes, the Briton just 0.078 seconds behind Leclerc’s best, while Sainz made it two Ferrari’s inside the top four, just 0.022 seconds further back.  The closeness of the top four drivers gives hope that we are in for a tight season at the front, but only time will tell.

Fifth on the grid was the second Red Bull of Perez, the Mexican bemoaning a small mistake that prevented him reaching at least the second row, while he will be joined on the third row by Alonso, who made only one attempt in Q3 that was good enough for sixth.

McLaren drivers Norris and Piastri will share row four, while Hamilton was only ninth in the second Mercedes, more than two-tenths of a second behind team-mate Russell.  Hülkenberg completed the top ten for Haas after gambling on saving a new set of soft tyres for Sunday’s race rather than using it up in Q3.

But no one could stop Verstappen, and he will start the year as he finished the last, on top.

Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying Result

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	TIME
1	1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:29.179
2	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1:29.407
3	63	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:29.485
4	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	1:29.507
5	11	Sergio Perez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:29.537
6	14	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team	1:29.542
7	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1:29.614
8	81	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	1:29.683
9	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1:29.710
10	27	Nico Hülkenberg	GER	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1:30.502
Eliminated in Q2
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Visa CashApp RB	1:30.129
12	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team	1:30.200
13	23	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams Racing	1:30.221
14	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Visa CashApp RB	1:30.278
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	1:30.529
Eliminated in Q3
16	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1:30.756
17	24	Zhou Guanyu	CHN	Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber	1:30.757
18	2	Logan Sargeant	USA	Williams Racing	1:30.770
19	31	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1:30.793
20	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1:30.948