Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for pole position in a thrilling qualifying session at the start of Formula 1’s new era.
After a difficult session, Leclerc pulled out all the stops for his final lap and beat the world champion by 0.123sec at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz had previously been the fastest Ferrari driver but dropped to third place, just 0.129 seconds off pole.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
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Hamilton was 0.680sec off pole as Mercedes’ pre-event predictions that they weren’t on the pace yet proved correct.
His new teammate George Russell was ninth after making a mistake at turn one on his only lap in the final qualifying session.
Russell was beaten by his Mercedes predecessor Valtteri Bottas, an impressive sixth in his first race for the Alfa Romeo team, ahead of the equally impressive Kevin Magnussen on his return to F1 with the Haas team after a year away.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was eighth ahead of Russell, with Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly taking the final spot in the top 10.
more to follow
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