Leclerc Takes Pole at Bahrain Grand Prix

Max Verstappen was left stunned on Saturday by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after his brilliant performance earned him pole position for the Charles Leclerc Bahrain Grand Prix.

Verstappen, who was ahead of Leclerc by 0.15 seconds at the last split time, looked like he would take pole. However, Verstappen’s Red Bull lost .123 seconds before crossing the finish line, and that put Leclerc in first, giving him his tenth career pole.

“It was just a bit hit-and-miss getting the balance together, said Verstappen. Suddenly I lost a tenth (of a second) on a corner. Nevertheless it’s the first race of the season and we’re competitive.”

The pole was somewhat of a homecoming for Charles Leclerc as it was the same track where he won his first career pole position after signing with Ferrari in 2019. That was an occasion that was the Monaco native getting a phone call from Prince Albert.

“It feels good. The last two years have been difficult for the team, said Leclerc. We were quite hopeful this was an opportunity to be back in the front.”

The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton seems to continue to lack the horsepower needed to combat the faster cars of Red Bull and Ferrari. While he managed to improve on earlier runs, he was far from challenging Leclerc or Verstappen for the pole. Instead, Hamilton will start fifth on the grid behind Sergio Perez, while Canada’s Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi will start on the 19th and 20th, respectively.

F1 Jackman

Valtteri Bottas managed to exact some revenge against Mercedes by earning sixth position on the grid. While behind Lewis Hamilton, his replacement at Mercedes, George Russell sits ninth after he had a poor outing.

Team Hass, whose car is powered with a Ferrari engine, watched at the recently re-hired Kevin Magnussen earned the seventh position. The Dutch driver is back with the team after being let go in 2020. a move that many speculate Hass regretted. Hass had originally signed Russia’s Nikita Mazepin but walked away from the deal after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. And For Magnussen, it seems he is happy with how it is working out.

“I’m speechless, being so anxious about this qualifying to really see how it is, and then finding out it is really good.”

During the final moments of qualifying, Ferrari set the fastest times in the third qualifying session. However, Mercedes was behind the pace by 1.5 seconds, and that was not looking good for Lewis Hamilton, who is hoping for an eighth championship, and George Russel.

While Mercedes had their problems, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who won McLaren’s only win last season, did not make it past Q2 and will start in 18th, while his teammate, Lando Norris outperformed the Australian and will start in 13th.

McLaren, who is experiencing problems with being aerodynamic issues that is causing the car to bounce on the track. This seems to be a problem with many teams, with Red Bull and Mercedes all struggling to overcome the issue, even though Verstappen was ahead of Sainz Jr. and Leclerc in the second qualifying session.

For Hamilton, he has openly stated his doubts about the car this season and has ruled out any chance he will win the season opener after two practice runs. While the Brit has won races when starting back on the grid, the odds are stacked against him considering the speed of the Ferrari’s.

However, for Ferrari fans left disappointed from a horrible 2020 season, they were jubilant to see LeClerc at the front of the grid. Even moreso, considering it has been since 2007 that Ferrari fans saw one of their own with a championship, and for LeClerc,

“We have worked extremely well as a team to find ourselves in the position to fight for better places. From the driving point, it is completely different to last year, I’ve tried many different driving styles. There’s much more to come from us.”

With the Formula 1 season set to start tomorrow in Bahrain, it seems like race fans will have a far different and more competitive season than they have seen over the last seven years. With it looking like Mercedes will no longer dominate the series, the betting odds with Canadian sportsbooks are in favour of Red Bull or Ferrari taking an early lead in the points.