Max qualifies third fastest in Bahrain: 'A good qualifying'

Published on 05 December 2020 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen qualified third fastest for the Sakhir Grand Prix. In an exciting qualifying session on the short configuration circuit in Bahrain, Valtteri Bottas laid claim to pole position. George Russell, replacing Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton who has contracted covid-19, came in second at only 0,030 seconds astray from his team mate. Max Verstappen was 56 thousandths of a second slower than the Finn and finished in third.

After qualifying Max had the following to say: “We had a good qualifying. I am pleased to be P3 and it is a good result for us on a track like this. It’s a really short lap with not that many corners and it was a bit closer than normal but I think the layout explains that. After the first run I was two tenths behind of Bottas so I knew it was going to be difficult and in the end to be within a tenth wasn’t bad. Tomorrow we are starting on different tyres so it will be quite interesting to see how it’s going to play out for us.”

Max is starting the race tomorrow on the soft compound tyre while both Mercedes have gone for the medium compound to start on. On the question whether he expects to clear Russell and Bottas very quickly, the Dutchman answers: “Wherever possible of course. Last week I had a better start from third than from second in any case. We’ll find out tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it. On this track the lap times are so close to each other, it also is going to depend on the start but even then with so many laps and traffic and tyre management it’s not going to be easy. Like I have said before we have nothing to lose. So it’s better to have a bit of fun tomorrow and see what we can do.”

Qualifying gets underway on the ‘Outer Track’ with artificial lighting on the Bahrain International Circuit. The Haas and Williams drivers are the firsts to head out on track. At Haas, and making his debut also, is Pietro Fittipaldi, he replaces the injured Romain Grosjean while Jack Aitken at Williams, and also making his debut, is replacing George Russell. The latter in turn has taken over duties for the covid-19 stricken Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

With well over ten minutes still to go in Q1, Max also heads out on track. On the softs Max immediately tops the timesheet with a 0:54.037. After this lap, Verstappen decides to head back in. Bottas in turn betters the time the Dutchman set and with a second fastest time, Max makes it safely to the next round of qualifying. Those who failed to make the cut in Q1 are: Kevin Magnussen (P16), Nicholas Latifi (P17), Jack Aitken (P18), Kimi Raikkonen (P19) and Pietro Fittipaldi (P20).

At the start of the second part of qualifying, Max makes to the track on a set of the medium compound tyres. On this set Max does a 0:54.006 on his first flying lap, this puts him third fastest at that moment. While Verstappen is in the pits, numerous drivers better the time Max previously set. Eventually he rejoins in seventh during the closing stages of Q2. This time round he is on the soft compound tyre and at the top of the timesheet with a 0:53.647. Trailing him are Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Drivers who didn’t make it to Q3 are: Esteban Ocon (P11), Alexander Albon (P12), Sebastian Vettel (P13), Antonio Giovinazzi (P14) and Lando Norris (P15).

As usual in Q3, all the drivers head out on the softs. Max clocks the fastest time on his first flying lap with Charles Leclerc in his wake in second. Max heads back to the pits while both Mercedes do a so called extended lap and keep on running. This enables them to better Max’ time demoting the Dutchman to third. On the final run Russell and Verstappen better their times, but it’s not good enough to beat Bottas. Bottas takes his fifth pole this season with team mate Russell in P2, just only 0,030 second behind him. Max comes in third at only 56 thousandths of a second behind of Bottas. Charles Leclerc is fourth while Perez is fifth. Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo finish sixth and seventh fastest while Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll round out the top ten.

Tomorrow at 18.10 hrs. local Dutch time the Sakhir Grand Prix will get underway.

Contest GP Sakhir: win a Max Verstappen RB12 Japan 1:43 scale model!

Results qualifying Sakhir: