Oscar Piastri is slowly solidifying himself as the front man at McLaren. Piastri out qualified his teammate Lando Norris who finished in P6. Russell finished in P2 ahead of Charles Leclerc which introduces a shake up at the front of the pack. Kimi Antonelli earned a honorable P4 in the session putting both Mercedes in the top 5. Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 5.
Piastri was the only driver to dip into the 1:29’s. Carlos Sainz has finally found himself a top 10 qualifying finish after struggling to find chemistry with this Williams FW47. Sainz will look to score points this weekend as that effort has been the sole result of Alex Albon’s finishes this year. Sainz was supposed to come in as the lead driver given his experience but that has not yet been seen which raises questions about his race pace and form as a driver at the moment.
Max Verstappen led the Red Bull camp effort but could only find the pace to finish P7. He will face an uphill battle to make it to the podium this weekend. There should be any weather related issues in Bahrain so Verstappen will have his work cut out for him. Liam Lawson continues to struggle finishing P17 well behind his rookie teammate Isack Hadjar who will start the race P12.
Bahrain Qualifying Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|
| 1 | 81 | Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:31.392 | 1:30.454 | 1:29.841 | 15 |
| 2 | 63 | Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.494 | 1:30.664 | 1:30.009 | 20 |
| 3 | 16 | Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.454 | 1:30.724 | 1:30.175 | 16 |
| 4 | 12 | Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:31.415 | 1:30.716 | 1:30.213 | 20 |
| 5 | 10 | Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:31.462 | 1:30.643 | 1:30.216 | 19 |
| 6 | 4 | Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:31.107 | 1:30.560 | 1:30.267 | 18 |
| 7 | 1 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:31.303 | 1:31.019 | 1:30.423 | 17 |
| 8 | 55 | Sainz | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.591 | 1:30.844 | 1:30.680 | 19 |
| 9 | 44 | Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:31.219 | 1:31.009 | 1:30.772 | 18 |
| 10 | 22 | Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:31.751 | 1:31.228 | 1:31.303 | 17 |
| 11 | 7 | Doohan | Alpine Renault | 1:31.414 | 1:31.245 | | 13 |
| 12 | 6 | Hadjar | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:31.591 | 1:31.271 | | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:31.634 | 1:31.886 | | 15 |
| 14 | 31 | Ocon | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.594 | DNF | | 8 |
| 15 | 23 | Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:32.040 | | | 6 |
| 16 | 27 | Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:32.067 | | | 17 |
| 17 | 30 | Lawson | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 1:32.165 | | | 6 |
| 18 | 5 | Bortoleto | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:32.186 | | | 6 |
| 19 | 18 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:32.283 | | | 9 |
| 20 | 87 | Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 1:32.373 | | | 6 |