Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen took the first pole position of the Formula One season in Bahrain on Friday, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc alongside on the front row.

Mercedes’ George Russell qualified third and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fourth.

At the end of the session, Verstappen appeared under the impression that he had not done enough, but the Dutch driver was 0.228 quicker than Leclerc.

“Nothing to be sorry about Max. A very good start.
Two tenths clear of Charles and three tenths clear
of George,” said team boss Christian Horner.

The triple champion, who won from pole in Bahrain last year and ended up with 19 wins from 22 races in a dominant season, said it had been fun. “The track had a lot of grip but with the wind the last two days, it’s been quite tricky to get the whole lap together and it was the same in qualifying,” he said.

“Of course very happy to be on pole. It was a little bit unexpected but luckily in qualifying the car came to us and I felt a bit happier with the whole car.”