00:00Formula One is back and it's time for qualifying for the 19th World Championship Bahrain Grand Prix.
00:0523 races in 2023 and we get underway for the fifth time in F1 history right here at the Bahrain
00:12International Circuit.
00:15Look at all the traffic there on the run down to the final two corners.
00:18As long as you keep off the racing line, you're allowed to go slow, back up and make a bit
00:22of a gap.
00:23As long as you don't get in the way of anyone that is on a fast lap.
00:27Alex Albon crosses the line, goes from 13th up into the top six.
00:32Tsunoda's coming through pretty fast as is this man Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin.
00:36And he needs this lap and he needs to have stayed within the track limits.
00:40Yuki Tsunoda goes sixth fastest and Lance Stroll up into the top five.
00:46Best final sector overall, that should be good enough.
00:49Norris and Piastri we can concentrate on now as we approach the final few corners.
00:54Joe Guanyu goes 11th fastest. That might be on the cusp just a little bit.
00:59Valtteri Bottas, his teammate, goes ahead of him and into the top ten.
01:02Where's Lando Norris going to end up?
01:04Oh, only 13th fastest for Lando Norris.
01:07Here comes Oscar Piastri down towards the final couple of corners.
01:11Hülkenberg is flying. He was fifth fastest in second practice yesterday evening here in Bahrain.
01:17Checker flag is flying.
01:18Oscar Piastri in his first ever Formula One qualifying session.
01:21Goes from 19th to only 17th and that's his qualifying over, sadly for him.
01:26His teammate Lando Norris still very much in it as Nico Hülkenberg goes into the top six.
01:31Brilliant lap from him and safely through to the next part of qualifying.
01:36Gasly down into the bottom five as a result.
01:39That's not the debut for Alpine that he was looking for.
01:41Where's Logan Sargent going to end up on the grid for tomorrow?
01:44Well, 16th in his first qualifying and he out qualifies Pierre Gasly, who in the past here in Bahrain has
01:51had some pretty decent performances.
01:53Top five on two occasions.
01:55We've lost Nick de Vries and Oscar Piastri, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly and Logan Sargent, who had exactly the same
02:02time as Lando Norris.
02:03And we had 1.1 seconds covering the 20 drivers.
02:09Will Esteban Ocon enjoy this ride as he crosses the line now to put himself into the top four?
02:15So there's something for the rest to now, eh, Matt?
02:17He's made a huge jump as Hülkenberg goes into the top three.
02:21Ooh, this will frighten a few people.
02:23These kind of lap times coming from the midfield.
02:26You can see why the Ferraris are pushing.
02:27Joe Guanyu goes into the top nine.
02:29So he's right on the cusp of it.
02:31Yuki Tsunoda stays in the bottom five.
02:33He's out of qualifying.
02:34And Valtteri Bottas pushes his teammate down into tenth when he crosses the line in eighth.
02:39Next to cross the line will be Fernando Alonso.
02:43Goes second fastest for Aston Martin.
02:46Lando Norris is next to try and get out of the bottom five, which he does.
02:49Pushes Joe Guanyu down into that bottom five.
02:52And Carlos Sainz now needs to put himself up into the top three if he can as his teammate goes
02:57fastest overall.
02:58Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz now goes into the top three himself.
03:02Lance Stroll is a tenth inside a time he needs to make it out of that bottom five.
03:07And he's the only one of the bottom five still on the track.
03:10George Russell crosses the line, goes third fastest.
03:13Lewis Hamilton, his teammate, is next to cross the line.
03:15And he slots in just behind George Russell.
03:18Can Lance Stroll make it to Aston Martin's into the top ten for Q3?
03:22And he does just push his Lando Norris out of qualifying by a tenth and a half.
03:30Ferrari on top with Charles Leclerc.
03:32But Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez didn't come out for a second run.
03:36Russell and Hamilton still up there.
03:38Alonso still up there.
03:39Hülkenberg, what a great comeback for him in the top ten.
03:44Let the car breathe a little bit then, build some brake pressure, slow the car down and just ride the
03:52kerbs through the exit and he'll stay left then.
03:54It's a reasonable run to the line and it's a 29.897.
03:59That's massive.
04:00Last year's poll, 130.5.
04:03Charles Leclerc has gone purple in the middle sector.
04:05Max Verstappen comfortably ahead of that.
04:07Sergio Perez, two tenths off his teammate.
04:10Here's Charles Leclerc on the front row with Max Verstappen with a 130 dead.
04:15So just over a tenth behind Max Verstappen.
04:17Carlos Sainz is the fourth and slowest of the times we've had so far.
04:22Lance Stroll, fifth fastest so far.
04:25Alonso, tenth in the first sector, tenth in the second sector.
04:29But Aston Martin, given where they were last year, seventh in the Constructors' Championship,
04:33think anything in the top six is real progress here tonight, even if they miss out on a front row
04:39or pole position.
04:40They'll be looking at Alonso then, powering down the main straight and he goes on to the second row.
04:45He's four tenths down and just behind Sergio Perez gets a round of applause.
04:49But can Mercedes or Hülkenberg challenge that?
04:53Yeah, Alonso turned in very wide.
04:55He used the kerb on turning, a 31-0 doesn't quite match his Q2 time yet for Hülkenberg.
05:02So, and he's lost that time anyway.
05:04For exceeding track limits at turn four.
05:07So on the exit of turn four, Hülkenberg goes over the white line.
05:10George Russell next across the line goes fifth fastest.
05:13Aston Martin out-qualified one of the two Mercedes.
05:16What about the other one? Lewis Hamilton, only seventh fastest.
05:20And that's disappointment given what we've seen in qualifying so far.
05:24And Charles Leclerc is out of the car.
05:26And I would imagine out of qualifying and walking away.
05:29Is there something mechanical wrong with the car?
05:31We're expecting to see him out again.
05:33That is a surprise that Charles Leclerc's qualifying has ended early.
05:39Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, all identical.
05:4328-7 through the first sector.
05:46Lance Stroll crosses the line.
05:48Eighth fastest, eighth on the grid, nine tenths down on Max Verstappen.
05:52They're neck and neck though.
05:53The three that are jockeying for pole here.
05:55Verstappen just pulled out a blinding middle sector of a 38-5 to increase his pace.
06:01Sergio Perez, his teammate, has pretty much matched it.
06:04Certainly down to the nearest tenth.
06:06And Carlos Sainz will be coming to the end of his middle sector.
06:09Two tenths down on the two Red Bulls.
06:11So is this Verstappen against Perez here for pole?
06:15Verstappen crosses the line and extends his advantage out in front with a 1.29.7.
06:19Here comes Sergio Perez to cross the line.
06:22And it's Red Bull one and two.
06:24Verstappen ahead of Perez in the battle for pole.
06:27Has Carlos Sainz got any magic in the final sector to try and do it for Ferrari?
06:31He replaces Fernando Alonso in the top four.
06:34But it's Max Verstappen with pole number 21 that takes qualifying in Bahrain tonight.
06:40And the defending world champion starts this season where he left off last season on pole position.
06:47It's kind of worked out as we thought after testing.
06:51But a lot closer.
06:52A lot closer.
06:54But Red Bull did have the upper hand.
06:56Let's see how they go on the longer runs on race fuel tomorrow.
07:00All right.
Comments