Max has had the perfect start to the 2021 season, for now. A spectacular last lap brought him on to pole position for the race, despite bashing his floor in Q1. Mercedes have seemed to claw back just enough be close to Max to claim second and third on the grid. But, will the record be broken tomorrow for the most podiums with the same three drivers?
The Winners
It was a nail bitting return to qualifying as even in Q2 the pack were extremely close. The big winners of the session obviously has to start with Max. He has come back swinging for this season and really presents a threat to Mercedes and particularly Lewis’s aims for the record breaking 8th world title. Max pulled it together at the end for a great last lap in true champion style right at the end of qualifying.
Charles Leclerc had a stellar evening as he will start from 4th, for the first time in quite a while. It seems Ferrari have managed to pull back some of the engine performance lost last year with both drivers putting in some good times. Interestingly, in an interview with Sky Sports Leclerc claimed that he has been struggling with the car.
Close behind him will be Pierre Gasly who had a fantastic Saturday evening and will start in 5th tomorrow. Both Alpha Tauri drivers were very impressive and it is a shame Tsunoda did not make it through the second stage of qualifying.
Both of the McLaren drivers achieved a positive result with Ricciardo in sixth and Norris in seventh. The former will likely be pleased to have outperformed his team mate in qualifying in the first race weekend of the season. This confirms that McLaren are in the fight too.
The Losers
The curse of the second Red Bull driver is tempting to return this season as Perez did not make it into Q3. By exceeding track limits, Perez limited himself as he attempted to get through Q2 on the medium set tyres. In a bid to improve his time but not sacrifice race strategy he remained on the mediums but was unable better his situation enough to get through. It is important to remember though, that he will be able to choose his own tyres for the race.
Yuki Tsunoda has turned the heads of many who were watching today with some very impressive lap times. Unfortunately, he was not able to follow his team mate into Q3 and will start in 13th. Hopefully this will not be unlucky for his race tomorrow.
Will Sebastian Vettel ever get good luck in F1 again? He may be in a new team but he has returned to the familiar realm of the back of the grid. He will be starting in 18th position tomorrow after a disappointing Saturday. This result is a mix of that Aston Martin not being quite up to scratch and poor luck. Vettel got caught out by two yellow flags on his flying lap. It would have been interesting to see how he would have qualified and what the true pace of the car is.
What to look out for in the race tomorrow
Hopefully it will be clean racing into turn 1, but if the start of the F2 race that followed the session has anything to say about it, it’s likely we will see the safety car early on. The run down to the first turn will be a wake up call for many of the drivers after the off season, they’ll need to be sharp on the brakes.
Keep an eye on Leclerc and Gasly as they follow the top three and surely the McLarens will be on hand to pick up any scraps that could be up for grabs.
Perez is likely to make some important moves early on in the race, but will have to overtake Stroll, Alonso and Sainz to do so.
If the last season of Drive to Survive is anything to go on, Bottas might not be so reserved and Hamilton will have to protect his position in the first few corners. Mercedes need to manage this carefully as a scramble between their two drivers could allow Verstappen to get away into a race of his own.
Lastly, make sure to watch out for Giovinazzi. Last year his qualifying performance was weak in comparison to his teammate but in his first outing this year he’s already ahead. Antonio was the driver who gained the most positions on the opening lap last season so he will definitely be looking to keep up that tradition. The Italian driver will be starting from 12th tomorrow.
And there is your round up of the Bahrain Qualifying. Make sure to check back tomorrow for our coverage of the race and forecast for the rest of the season.
Leclerc said struggling
