No surprise: Max Verstappen celebrates the 33rd pole of his career, the third in Sakhir, and equals champions such as Alain Prost and Jim Clark with his palmares. The Dutchman put it all together in the last run of Q3: Max found a fantastic slipstream on the starting straight that earned him more than a tenth following Oscar Piastri's McLaren. The three-time world champion reached a 1'29″179 on the soft tyres, improving last year's performance by six tenths with the RB20 making its debut.
In reality, the best performance was obtained by Charles Leclerc who in Q2 had set a 1'29″165, but the Monegasque was unable to go under at the decisive moment, so Ferrari had to settle for the front row. The first qualifying of the season has respected the predictions with the red car which does not seem far from Red Bull: the 228 thousandths of a gap from the Monegasque indicates that they worked well in Maranello and are in all respects the first challengers of the world champion team. Verstappen confirmed that be a champion, but Leclerc was not satisfied because he paid for some small mistakes that cost him dearly. Charles' ringworm highlights that in pectore he felt in contention to start from the pole: a good sign for a driver who must believe in his potential and of the team.
Carlos Sainz is fourth behind George Russell: the Spaniard, very consistent in Q1, didn't put it all together when it counted, but the SF-24 showed good potential, certainly with fewer flaws than last year's car. Mercedes impressed with George: third place highlights the value of the W15 which could be a thorn in the side of Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton never entered the game and was content with a disappointing ninth place.
Sergio Perez defended himself and took home the fifth fastest time: the Mexican, already under fire, managed to defend himself from an excellent Fernando Alonso who brought his Aston Martin to within 8 thousandths of the RB20. The Spaniard only had one set of fresh tires in Q3 and chose to make just one run, taking to the track between the two attempts of the others. The potential of the Silverstone car seems interesting because the Asturian left behind the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, further behind the top than expected.
Nico Hulkenberg's performance was excellent, bringing Haas to Q3: the German performed the miracle of taking the VF-24 where no one in the team hoped, revealing a potential that was decidedly superior to what was seen in the tests.
Yuki Tsunoda does not enter the Top 10 by 7 thousandths: the Japanese is relegated to 11th place which probably does not meet Racing Bull's expectations, but Daniel Ricciardo fared significantly worse and had to settle for 14th place. The Australian had far greater ambitions. For now, controversy will not erupt over the Faenza car being too similar to the Red Bull RB19.
Lance Stroll is 12th with the second “green”: the Canadian was unable to exploit the AMR24 which is a demanding car in the flying lap and he paid four tenths of a second from the Asturian, a sign that he made a few too many mistakes. And dad Lawrence won't be too happy.
Alexander Albon is 13th with Williams: the Anglo-Thai is taking measurements of the new car which for the moment doesn't seem like lightning. The last of Q2 and, therefore, 15th is Kevin Magnussen with the Haas: the Dane saw his time taken away in the first run due to a track limit at turn 7 and then he didn't find the right shot, but the American car by Ferrari has made a qualitative leap that will have to be measured in the race.
The two Stake Saubers do not make it out of Q1: Valtteri Bottas is 16th with the C44. The Finn reached the current limit of the Hinwil car because he preceded his teammate Guanyu Zhou by just a thousandth, immediately behind him because he made a small mistake right at the exit of the last corner.
Logan Sargeant disappointed with the Williams FW46: the American paid four tenths of a second from his teammate. In the first run Logan complained about being blocked by Hamilton, but was inconclusive in the second.
Alpine did badly: the A524 immediately seemed like a wrong and heavy single-seater. Team principal Bruno Famin admitted that the season is starting on an uphill climb: Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are condemned to share the last row. Nobody in Enstone expected such a drastic drop in performance, but the team will have to wait for the first developments which will only arrive in Australia.
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