Vettel seizes pole in Bahrain desert, Raikkonen P2 to secure Ferrari front row lockout; Bottas salvages P3 on grid for Mercedes but Hamilton relegated to P9 after gearbox penalty
Ferrari again showed that they have the pace to challenge and perhaps dethrone Mercedes in 2018, at least based on qualifying results at the dusty desert Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday. The Scuderia’s ace, Sebastian Vettel, laid down a track record 1:27.958 lap to secure the pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix, a solid .143 in front of his stablemate, Kimi Raikkonen. That secured a Ferrari front row lockout, as Mercedes’ second driver, Valtteri Bottas, could set a lap no better than third fastest. To make matters worse for the Silver Arrows, while Lewis Hamilton was not only off the pace and qualified behind Bottas and his main rivals in P4 the English current World Champion also faces a 5-spot gearbox penalty and will have to start from back in P9 on the grid. At least in the very early going this year the racing gods seem to be favoring Ferrari’s challenge to the previously unmatched might of Mercedes.
Daniel Ricciardo was fifth fastest but his headstrong teammate Max Verstappen crashed out in Q1, allegedly after a “horsepower spike” sent his car careering off track and into a barrier. Vertapeppen will have to fight his way through the back of the pack, which should at least make for some exciting racing for the young Dutchman as he scrambles to secure precious points for team Red Bull. Perhaps most impressive of all qualifying efforts, Pierre Gasly piloted his previously woeful Honda-powered Toro Rosso all the way up to the sixth fastest time, out performing Haas, Renault and Force India in the process. With his teammate Brendan Hartley qualifying just outside of Q3 in P11 it could be that Honda power is finally coming good a year after the McLaren divorce. Making matters more awkward for McLaren neither of their Renault-powered chassis were able to get through to Q3, with Fernando Alonso & Stoffel Vandoorne mired back in P13 and P14 respectively.
Rounding out the Top 10 in quali, Kevin Magnussen made it to P7 for improving Haas a week after their twin pit disasters led to heartbreak in Australia; Nico Hulkenberg was P8 and Carlos Sainz was P10 for the Renault factory team; and Esteban Ococn was the sole Force India to make it into Q3 at P9. Once formidable Williams look to be in deep trouble as they were essentially as slow as the pitiful Saubers, with Lance Stroll having the dubious distinction of setting the worst time of the day.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:29.060 | 1:28.341 | 1:27.958 | |
| 2 | 1:28.951 | 1:28.515 | 1:28.101 | |
| 3 | 1:29.275 | 1:28.794 | 1:28.124 | |
| 4 | 1:29.396 | 1:28.458 | 1:28.220 | |
| 5 | 1:29.552 | 1:28.962 | 1:28.398 | |
| 6 | 1:30.121 | 1:29.836 | 1:29.329 | |
| 7 | 1:29.594 | 1:29.623 | 1:29.358 | |
| 8 | 1:30.260 | 1:29.187 | 1:29.570 | |
| 9 | 1:30.338 | 1:30.009 | 1:29.874 | |
| 10 | 1:29.893 | 1:29.802 | 1:29.986 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
The Bahrain Grand Prix airs live on Sunday, April 8 starting at 11AM on ESPN2 here in the States. Hope to see you then to see if Ferrari can put the fear of god into Mercedes to make it two wins in a row to start this year’s campaign!