Oscar Piastri made quite the entering move by starting the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position. This victory signalled his second career pole and McLaren’s first at this circuit. The qualifying session unfolded on Saturday evening, with Piastri’s impressive performance placing him ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was promoted to second after Mercedes drivers received grid penalties for a pitlane infringement.
Q3 of the session took a dramatic turn when Haas driver Esteban Ocon came crashing out in Q3, causing a red flag. Thankfully, Ocon escaped from the crash without injury. His team has a massive need for repair work after this wreck before Sunday’s race. That crash was reportedly at Turn 3. This spot is literally across the street from where previous Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean had his well-known fireball crash in 2020.
Piastri expressed satisfaction with his driving throughout the weekend, stating, “I felt confident out there pretty much all weekend. FP1 was an experience for us all I think — it felt more like a rally car than an F1 car but from then on I felt really comfortable with the car.” The young driver came through in a big way when it counted the most. He really put the skills on display during qualifying following a spectacular effort in FP3.
Lando Norris faced challenges during qualifying. He ended the season sixth overall, only one spot behind compatriot Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Max Verstappen was nice and close behind in seventh for Red Bull. Norris reflected on his performance, admitting, “Honestly no idea, just not quick enough,” indicating his struggle to find pace during the session.
Seven-time Briton Lewis Hamilton lost potential improvements in his qualifying session for exceeding track limits. This problematic aspect of the car resulted in him scrubbing his initial Q3 run. He eventually qualified ninth on the grid. Yuki Tsunoda had a great tenth place for Red Bull after safely advancing through to Q3.
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