After qualifying, it's always a matter of waiting to see if the result will actually be the starting grid, but in Bahrain we can be sure of that this time. The yellow flag situations and drivers going off track have all been dealt with by race control and the chances of anyone needing to fit new engine parts before tomorrow is extremely small.
So Max Verstappen starts the 2021 season as he finished 2020: with pole position. He'll be shadowed by both Mercedes drivers and behind them, the snappy fight for the subtop between Ferrari, AlphaTauri and McLaren takes place.
Drivers in the backfield to keep an eye on
Further back are some drivers who, based on the speed their team has shown elsewhere, should be able to come forward. Sergio Perez starting in 11th, Yuki Tsunoda in 13th and Sebastian Vettel in 18th are all drivers to keep an eye on.
Provisional starting grid |
|
| 1. Max Verstappen | |
| 2. Lewis Hamilton | |
| 3. Valtteri Bottas | |
| 4. Charles Leclerc | |
| 5. Pierre Gasly | |
| 6. Daniel Ricciardo | |
| 7. Lando Norris | |
| 8. Carlos Sainz | |
| 9. Fernando Alonso | |
| 10. Lance Stroll | |
| 11. Sergio Perez | |
| 12. Antonio Giovinazzi | |
| 13. Yuki Tsunoda | |
| 14. Kimi Raikkonen | |
| 15. George Russell | |
| 16. Esteban Ocon | |
| 17. Nicholas Latifi | |
| 18. Sebastian Vettel | |
| 19. Mick Schumacher | |
| 20. Nikita Mazepin. | |