Qualifying for the 2024 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix concluded at Sakhir early on 2 March Beijing time. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took the first pole position of the new season with a 1:29.179, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.228 seconds. Mercedes’ George Russell was third.
Pole did not come easily for Verstappen. After crossing the line on his final flying lap in Q3, he apologised over the radio to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, feeling that he had not delivered a sufficiently clean lap. It was enough to secure pole, however, as the 26-year-old Dutchman took the first step in his bid for a fourth consecutive title.
Leclerc regretted missing out on pole. With a limited tyre supply, he had to use a used set for his first Q3 attempt, disrupting his rhythm. His personal best from Q2 was, notably, 0.014 seconds faster than Verstappen’s eventual pole lap.
Russell edged Sainz by just 0.022 seconds to claim third, leaving the Ferraris second and fourth. Sergio Pérez was fifth, 0.358 seconds behind team-mate Verstappen, while Fernando Alonso missed out on fifth by only 0.005 seconds and finished sixth. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were seventh and eighth, with Lewis Hamilton ninth.
Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg showed impressive speed for the second day in a row, beating Russell in Q2 to advance to Q3 in sixth place. With no new soft tyres available, however, he finished the final segment last, in tenth. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda impressed by beating team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in both Q1 and Q2, but he ultimately lost out to Piastri by 0.007 seconds, finishing eleventh and narrowly missing Q3.
Alpine and Sauber lost both cars in Q1. Valtteri Bottas missed the cut by 0.11 seconds, while team-mate Zhou Guanyu was just one thousandth slower in seventeenth. Pierre Gasly was last in twentieth and was the only driver more than a second behind the Q1 pacesetter. In Q1, only 0.884 seconds separated Sainz in first from Esteban Ocon in nineteenth, illustrating a closely fought session rarely seen in recent years.
| Position | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:30.031 | 1:29.374 | 1:29.179 | 17 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.243 | 1:29.165 | 1:29.407 | 19 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:30.350 | 1:29.922 | 1:29.485 | 17 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:29.909 | 1:29.573 | 1:29.507 | 18 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:30.221 | 1:29.932 | 1:29.537 | 17 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:30.179 | 1:29.801 | 1:29.542 | 14 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:30.143 | 1:29.941 | 1:29.614 | 15 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:30.531 | 1:30.122 | 1:29.683 | 18 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:30.451 | 1:29.718 | 1:29.710 | 18 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 1:30.566 | 1:29.851 | 1:30.502 | 18 |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:30.481 | 1:30.129 | – | 12 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:29.965 | 1:30.200 | – | 12 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:30.397 | 1:30.221 | – | 12 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:30.562 | 1:30.278 | – | 12 |
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:30.646 | 1:30.529 | – | 12 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:30.756 | – | – | 6 |
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | 1:30.757 | – | – | 6 |
| 18 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:30.770 | – | – | 6 |
| 19 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:30.793 | – | – | 9 |
| 20 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:30.948 | – | – | 9 |
