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At 5 p.m. Belgian time, the light at the exit of the pit lane turned green and the first qualifying of the 2024 F1 season began. After three days of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit and three practice sessions this race weekend, it remained a matter of guesswork as to the balance of power between the teams.
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No more playing hide and seek and full speed towards the fastest possible time and in Q1 this meant a best time for Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, followed by Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin and Max Verstappen who completed the top three. For Alpine it was immediately a harsh confrontation with reality. Alpine’s F1 car is reportedly about 10 kilograms too heavy and this is also reflected in the lap times.
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The stable rules appear to have resulted in the cars being even closer together in terms of performance, making the battle for a place in Q3 even more thrilling.
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In Q2, Max Verstappen initially set the fastest time, but ultimately Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari was two tenths faster than Max Verstappen. Fernando Alonso quickly progressed to Q3 in the Aston Martin, unlike teammate Lance Stroll who qualified twelfth.
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The battle for a place in Q3 was intense, with Mercedes also fighting hard for a place in the final qualifying round. This set the stage for an exciting battle for pole position, with Max Verstappen and both Ferraris vying for the top spot.
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During the first set of fast laps, Max Verstappen posted the fastest time of 1:29.421, securing a provisional pole position. However, Charles Leclerc was just 0.059 seconds behind Verstappen. A final fast run ensued, leading to a thrilling conclusion to the pole battle.
Max Verstappen improved his time to 1:29.179, claiming pole position. Charles Leclerc finished two-tenths behind Verstappen, starting from the front row. George Russell of Mercedes completed the top three. Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and Fernando Alonso were all within four-tenths of Verstappen, indicating a closely matched field for the race.
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.031s 1:29.374s 1:29.179s
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.243s 1:29.165s 1:29.407s
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.350s 1:29.922s 1:29.485s
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:29.909s 1:29.573s 1:29.507s
5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:30.221s 1:29.932s 1:29.537s
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:30.179s 1:29.801s 1:29.542s
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.143s 1:29.941s 1:29.614s
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.531s 1:30.122s 1:29.683s
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.451s 1:29.718s 1:29.710s
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:30.566s 1:29.851s 1:30.502s
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:30.481s 1:30.129s
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:29.965s 1:30.200s
13 Alexander Albon Williams 1:30.397s 1:30.221s
14 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:30.562s 1:30.278s
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:30.646s 1:30.529s
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:30.756s
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:30.757s
18 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:30.770s
19 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:30.793s
Tags: Max Verstappen