Night has fallen in Bahrain, and it's time for qualifying, where we were looking for the answer to a single, decisive question: Will anyone beat McLaren?
There was still a lot of confusion in Q1, with Alpine leading thanks to Jack Doohan, but apart from that, the French also put in some very impressive performances. Pierre Gasly showed excellent form, as did Isaac Hadjar, but the two Red Bulls struggled a lot. In the end, Max Verstappen only brought the RB to third place, while at the top – as expected – a McLaren finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Among those eliminated were Alexander Albon, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, and Oliver Bearman.
Q2 also didn't start well for Haas, as Esteban Ocon lost the rear of his car in a corner and seriously damaged it. Red flag!
Naturally, it was once again the battle behind the McLarens that was worth following, as there was plenty to see. Yuki Tsunoda, for example, managed to reach Q3, the Mercedes team put in a very strong performance, while Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz also earned the right to participate in the final phase. However, this did not succeed for Jack Doohan, Isaac Hadjar, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso, or Esteban Ocon, who was already eliminated early in the stage.
Then it was Q3, and the big question: Will there be a challenger for McLaren? Kimi Antonelli and George Russell took the lead, but this time it wasn't possible to catch the orange cars. That is, only one of them, because qualifying was ultimately won by Oscar Piastri ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc, while Lando Norris finished only sixth - even Pierre Gasly and Kimi Antonelli were ahead of him... Tomorrow, a truly exciting race awaits us!
Photo: Motorsportweek
