Night fell in Bahrain, and so did qualifying, where we sought the answer to the one crucial question: Will there be anyone to beat McLaren?
There was still a lot of chaos in Q1, with Alpine leading with Jack Doohan, but apart from that the French put in some very impressive performances. Pierre Gasly also showed great form, as did Isaac Hadjar, but both Red Bulls were struggling. In the end Max Verstappen only managed to pull RB to third place, but McLaren took the lead – as expected – ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Among the smallest we noted the names of Alexander Albon, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman.
Q2 also didn't start well for Haas, Esteban Ocon lost the rear of his car in a corner and suffered serious damage. A red flag followed!
Of course, the most interesting thing to watch was the fight behind the McLarens, because there was a lot to see. Yuki Tsunoda, for example, made it to Q3, Mercedes put in a very strong performance, while Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz also earned the right to compete in the final stage. However, this was not possible for Jack Doohan, Isaac Hadjar, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Oconno, who, as we know, crashed out early in the stage.
Then came Q3 and the big question: Will McLaren have a rival? Kimi Antonelli and George Russell appeared at the forefront, but the orange cars could not be caught this time. Well, only one thing, because Oscar Piastri eventually won the qualifying ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc, while Lando Norris only finished in sixth place - he was even overtaken by Pierre Gasly and Kimi Antonelli... We are looking forward to some really exciting racing tomorrow!
Photo: Motorsportweek
