F1 | Leclerc could have beaten Max in qualifying, but the race is an unknown

To beat Max Verstappen, assuming it can be done today, you need the perfect lap at the perfect time. The world champion has become a machine tested over three intense seasons, in which he has learned to make even the most complex task seem simple. A singular fact emerged from the first qualifying sessions of the season: the fastest time of the three sessions was set by Charles Leclerc, but Verstappen will start on pole. The Ferrari driver's time (1'29”165) was achieved in Q2, a session in which Leclerc achieved the best time just ahead of Max.

In Q3, however, Charles was unable to repeat his exploit, and Verstappen obtained his first pole of the season (33rd in his career) with a time of 1'29″179, with a margin of 0″228 over Leclerc himself, second. For the Monegasque, Sakhir's evening got a little complicated in Q1, when he was forced (after having obtained the seventh time with the first set of soft tyres) to a second 'run' with a second set, which was then aborted when at the pit wall garage understood that the passage to Q2 was no longer at risk.

Charles made it clear on the radio that he did not want to return to the track with a second set of new tyres, but the team's choice was understandable, as they absolutely wanted to avoid taking risks on a track with great evolution. The extra set used in Q1 took Leclerc out of the sequence and thus arrived in Q3 with only one set of softs available. In the end Charles appeared far from satisfied, he knows he left something along the way, but he also confirms that the ambitions before qualifying were high profile.

“With the 'ifs' we could re-discuss many things – commented Leclerc – but in the end we are second, three tenths behind Max. I think we were actually closer than what the classification says, but at the same time we expected the Red Bull had a little more margin than what we saw today. We're probably a little closer than we thought. The big question mark is obviously tomorrow's race, I think they (Red Bull) have a slightly bigger margin than what we saw today.”

In view of tomorrow's match there is a certainty and a question mark. With the soft tires, which Red Bull will use for two stints, it will be difficult for all opponents to keep up. Doubts remain regarding the performance we will see with the hard tyres, a compound that will be used by all the other teams for two stints. Ferrari will try to get rid of the red tire as soon as possible, focusing on the 'C1' as Mercedes will also do. After qualifying Toto Wolff cracked a shy smile, while George Russell confirmed himself to be happier than Verstappen himself. Both he and Lewis Hamilton (who didn't finish higher than ninth) focused more than usual on race setup choices, sacrificing performance on the fastest lap. Could it be a weight variable? We'll know in less than twenty-four hours.

However, this doesn't scare the usual Verstappen. “We did quite a few long runs – commented Max – I have to say that I was almost bored. I'm confident, we have a good car, even if from what we saw in the race simulations completed yesterday the margins are small. In these cases, attention to detail becomes crucial, and it will be the same tomorrow.” It was the case today too, in reality, the more approachable Red Bull seems, the more the added value of the Verstappen 'detail' emerges. “Without him it would be something else – commented a high-profile insider on the Sakhir evening – the genius of Adrian Newey would certainly still be celebrated, but I'm sure Red Bull's showcase of recent seasons would be greatly reduced” .

Pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, second Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, third George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team.

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images