Charles Leclerc causes a pole surprise

Under the floodlights in Bahrain, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc eclipsed world champion Max Verstappen and runner-up Lewis Hamilton. The Monegasque driver surprisingly grabbed first place on the grid in Formula 1 qualifying on Saturday for the Grand Prix opener in the desert. Verstappen finished second ahead of Leclerc's Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. “Yeah, babe. I knew it was in the car,” said a happy Leclerc.

Mercedes' current performance is not a bluff. “I don't think we can keep up with the performance of the leaders if we go purely on the pace,” remarked team boss Toto Wolff. There are “simple solutions” to get performance back. However, this would only “slowly crystallize” over the course of the 22 races currently scheduled for the season.

“We will do everything we can to better understand the car and find performance,” announced Wolff. There is still a lot to do at Mercedes before the first location assessment on Sunday. Hamilton in fifth place on the grid, his new teammate George Russell in ninth – that's not enough for the constructors' world champion.

And Red Bull? Verstappen grabbed the first daily best time of the new year and was also at the front in the final training session. However, in qualifying he was 0,123 seconds behind Leclerc. Red Bull is strong. “We have a good foundation,” said team boss Christian Horner, who won all the world championship titles with Vettel as driver between 2010 and 2013.

Of course, Ferrari with Leclerc and Sainz are also fighting for victory in Sakhir. “That is very impressive. “We’ve said all winter they’ll be hard to beat,” admitted Horner.

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Charles Leclerc causes a pole surprise

Not Max Verstappen. Neither does Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari man Charles Leclerc took the first pole position in 2022. The Formula 1 rule reform is producing its first surprises.

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