F1 Qualifying Results 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
F1 Race Event: Bahrain Grand Prix
Race Track: Bahrain International Circuit
Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen and Second placed qualifier Sergio Perez talk in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the 2023 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain
Weather: dry 24.3°C
Tarmac: dry 29.0°C
Humidity : 17%
Wind : 10 km/h N
Pressure: 1017.5 bar
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen scored his 21st F1 pole position of his career, during the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying session today. The Red Bull driver will start from P1 for the second time in Bahrain. It was the 82nd pole for the Red Bull F1 team. Because Sergio Pérez qualified second Red Bull also scored their 26th front row start.
Q1 session
Both AlphaTauri drivers kick off the very first qualifying session. Yuki Tsunoda was the first to set a lap time on the timesheet. The very first lap time of his was a 1:32.132.
Both Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz started Q1 on medium tyres, to try and get into Q2. When Leclerc started his first timed lap, something broke off the Ferrari and caused a red flag. The clock was stopped at 13:23 while only four drivers had put a lap time on the board and Tsunoda still was quickest.
After all drivers had put a lap time on the board, it was Carlos Sainz who got on top with a 1:30.993. Lance Stroll, who clocked the 8th fastest lap time, got his lap time deleted because he exceeded track limits.
With five minutes to go, the five drivers who had to improve to make it into Q2 were: Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Lando Norris (McLaren), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Logan Sargeant (Williams), and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin).
After the flag dropped, Stroll had improved to P5, Hulkenberg moved up to P6, Norris went up to P15. They pushed out Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), and Nyck de Vries, while Tsunoda put in a great lap and came out on P8.
Looking at the qualifying times of this Q1, you can see F1 has become extremely tight this season as the top 18 cars are less than 0.9 sec. apart. Norris and Sargeant even drove the same lap time! Because Norris was the first to cross the finish line, he made it to Q2.
Q2 session
Zhou Guanyu (CHN) Alfa Romeo F1 Team C43 and Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, Saturday 4th March 2023. Sakhir, Bahrain.
After the first run in Q2, the quickest man on the track was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull RB18. His time was a 1:30.503, which was already quicker than the pole position time of last year in Q3. His teammate Sergio Pérez was second on +0.243s while both Mercedes drivers were third and fourth, Lewis Hamilton was in front of George Russell. Alonso was 5th, Sainz on P6, and Leclerc on P7. Both Ferrari drivers were the only ones that drove on used Soft tyres. Hulkenberg has a great F1 comeback and was best of the rest on P8 with the Haas.
Five minutes before the end of Q2, the driver who had to improve to make it into Q3 were: Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Stroll, Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Tsunoda, and Alex Albon (Williams).
At the end of the Q2 session, Stroll and Ocon made it to P10 and P9. They both pushed out Norris and Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas.
Q3 session
Verstappen was the first to leave the pits in Q3 and set a banker lap in the final part of 2023 Bahrain qualifying. When all drivers had clocked a lap time, the driver on top was Max Verstappen.
Leclerc stepped out of the Ferrari in the middle of the Q3 session. At the same time, Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, and Sainz started their second run.
In the end Verstappen improved his first lap time a bit and Sainz moved up to P4
The pole time of last year's Bahrain GP was a 1:30.558 min set by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari F1-75.
Qualifying Times 2023 Bahrain GP
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:31.295 | 1:30.503 | 1:29.708 | 15 |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:31.479 | 1:30.746 | 1:29.846 | 15 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.094 | 1:30.282 | 1:30.000 | 17 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:30.993 | 1:30.515 | 1:30.154 | 18 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:31.158 | 1:30.645 | 1:30.336 | 15 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.057 | 1:30.507 | 1:30.340 | 15 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.543 | 1:30.513 | 1:30.384 | 15 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:31.184 | 1:31.127 | 1:30.836 | 18 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:31.508 | 1:30.914 | 1:30.984 | 15 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 1:31.204 | 1:30.809 | no time | 17 |
| 11 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:31.652 | 1:31.381 | 13 | |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:31.504 | 1:31.443 | 12 | |
| 13 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1:31.615 | 1:31.473 | 12 | |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:31.400 | 1:32.510 | 15 | |
| 15 | 23 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:31.461 | no time | 8 | |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:31.652 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:31.892 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:32.101 | 7 | ||
| 19 | 21 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | 1:32.121 | 9 | ||
| 20 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:32.181 | 6 |
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