Verstappen beats Perez to Bahrain pole for F1 opener
Verstappen claimed his 21st career pole by 0.138s to edge out Perez to underline that Red Bull remain the team to beat after winning both world championships last season.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc only completed a single Q3 run and ended up 0.292s behind in third, ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz.
There was no fairytale first pole in a decade for Fernando Alonso but the Spaniard put his Aston Martin an impressive fifth on the grid, six-tenths off Verstappen’s pole time.
Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were split by just 0.044s in sixth and seventh, over six-tenths adrift.
Lance Stroll, nursing his injured wrist, managed the eighth-quickest time in his Aston Martin, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified 10th on his F1 comeback.
It was a difficult qualifying session for McLaren with Lando Norris missing out on Q3 in 11th, while his rookie teammate Oscar Piastri was only 18th, ahead of fellow F1 newcomer Nyck de Vries.
Pierre Gasly will start last on his Alpine debut after having his lap time deleted for track limits.
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