The night has fallen in Bahrain, and the qualification has arrived, where we were looking for the answer to a single decisive question: Will anyone defeat McLaren?
In Q1, there was still a lot of chaos, with Alpine's Jack Doohan taking the lead, but the French teams performed very impressively overall. Pierre Gasly also showed great form, as did Isaac Hadjar, while the two Red Bulls struggled significantly. In the end, Max Verstappen managed to bring the RB to third place, but at the front – as expected – a McLaren finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The names of Alexander Albon, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, and Oliver Bearman were noted among the eliminated.
Q2 also did not start well for Haas, as Esteban Ocon lost the rear of his car on a corner entry and crashed it badly. A red flag followed!
Of course, it was again worth watching the battle behind the McLarens, as there was plenty to see. Yuki Tsunoda, for example, made it into Q3, the two Mercedes showed very strong performance, while Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz also earned their place in the final phase. However, Jack Doohan, Isaac Hadjar, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso, and Esteban Ocon, who was eliminated at the beginning of the session, did not succeed.
Then came Q3, and the big question: Will there be a challenger for McLaren? Kimi Antonelli and George Russell took the lead, but this time, the orange cars could not be caught. Or rather just one of them, as Oscar Piastri ultimately won the qualification ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc, while Lando Norris finished only in sixth place – even Pierre Gasly and Kimi Antonelli overtook him... Tomorrow promises to be an exciting race!
Photo: Motorsportweek
