Max Verstappen claims pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has claimed pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, edging out Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc in a shootout for the top spot, which was seen throughout the whole of the qualifying session.

Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso and George Russell trailed the top three, with Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10.

Rookies struggle in Q1

It was extremely close from the get-go in Q1, as Ferrari and AlphaTauri rushed onto the track to get going in qualifying, but soon enough a red flag was thrown after a piece of Leclerc's car flew off and onto the track. This resulted in the Monegasque driver locking up and causing him to abort his lap just seconds before the session was stopped.

Once the session resumed, the traffic on track was as expected and cars were vying for position to set their lap times and a continuous change at the top was witnessed, much to the shock of everyone involved in the sport. As it came down to the end of the session, it was still unclear as to who would be in the elimination zone, but it came to the point where Williams' rookie Logan Sargeant had a chance to bump Lando Norris down. The American finished on the exact same time as the Brit, but due to the McLaren driver completing his lap first, he advanced into Q2.

OUT IN Q1 - Sargeant, Magnussen, Piastri, de Vries, Gasly

Four teams fighting for the top spot

The shootout continued into Q2, with a number of changes at the top being on show for everyone watching from around the world, but it was Red Bull who edged the other teams out for the top spot. Verstappen managed to find the pace to set a lap time of 1:30.503 with Perez trailing behind by only 0.2 seconds, which gave the team enough hope to hold the duo in the pits whilst the teams attempted their final flying laps.

However, this soon looked like it could be an issue as Hulkenberg and Ocon moved into the top five before Red Bull's rivals had even set their new lap times. As the cars came flying around the track, a flurry of fast laps came in and the lead changed multiple times once again, with Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin fighting at the top. It was Leclerc that came out on top after Alex Albon returned to the pits to retire from the session due to front wing damage.

OUT IN Q2 - Norris, Bottas, Zhou, Tsunoda, Albon

Shootout continues into Q3

Verstappen was the first driver to reach the 1:29's as he shot into the lead by over 0.1 seconds to Leclerc with three purple sectors. With two minutes to go, Leclerc was seen getting out of his car, thus ending his qualifying session. Verstappen then re-entered the track to improve upon his time, with Mercedes, Aston Martin and Sainz all looking to best the Red Bull driver. It was soon reported that Leclerc returned to the pits and got out of his car due to saving tyres for the race tomorrow, potentially after his issue in Q1.