Max Verstappen on Pole at Bahrain Grand Prix

by f1livegp

Posted on March 27, 2021 at 8:12 PM

Red Bull's Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes to take a staggering shaft position at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The Dutchman was 0.388 seconds speedier than Hamilton, as Red Bull followed through on the speed the title holder had consistently said they had before the season.

Hamilton's partner Valtteri Bottas was third, in front of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri. Red Bull's Sergio Perez was eleventh and Sebastian Vettel eighteenth for Aston Martin.

HRed Bull had looked the quickest vehicle in pre-season testing, in any event in Verstappen's grasp, and Hamilton had said before this race that Mercedes were "not the fastest".

Max Verstappen shines

Verstappen had made light of his status as top pick, yet his sure attitude and non-verbal communication recounted another story, and the vehicle's speed on target and his driving underlined it. Verstappen was snappiest altogether three practice meetings, and again in the primary passing meeting, and his speed in the last meeting was all that he had been promising up to that point. Verstappen pipped Hamilton by just 0.023secs on his first lap in the last meeting, however pulled a raging lap out of the sack on his last run.

"Obviously we previously had an extraordinary test week," Verstappen said. "There are no certifications, however the entire week the vehicle has been functioning admirably and been truly charming to drive. Everything worked out impeccably so obviously extremely content with post position. "My first lap in Q3 wasn't astonishing, so I knew there was more in it. I never realized how much yet the equilibrium was there and I could push more and fortunately when it made a difference we could perform. "Overall the vehicle has been functioning admirably in short and long runs."