The night in Bahrain witnessed the first qualifying of the 2022 Formula 1 season, the first of the new rules, which saw Leclerc take pole position in the fierce battle between the Ferraris and Verstappen .
In the first assault on pole in Q3, Carlos Sainz held the provisional pole by 44 thousandths over Leclerc and 56 over Verstappen . However, and despite setting the record for the first sector, the man from Madrid saw how his teammate stole the best time from him and Verstappen, by just six thousandths, left him on the second row of the grid.
Finally Leclerc was the fastest and will start first in the Bahrain GP on Sunday, with Verstappen at his side and Sainz making a ‘sandwich’ of Ferrari to the champion.
In addition to excitement until the end, what left the first classification was a great difference between the first and second drivers: while Verstappen was fighting for pole, Pérez finished fourth, in no man’s land; while Hamilton held on to the top 5, Russell saw an Alfa Romeo, a Haas and an Alpine overtake him and drop him to ninth; and while Magnussen, Alonso and Gasly reached Q3, their teammates fell much earlier.
Alfa Romeo benefited from the power of the Ferrari engine and left the curiosity that Bottas , sixth, overtook his replacement at Mercedes, Russell. The Haas team also enjoyed the Ferrari power unit, where despite a year out of the category, Magnussen shone with seventh position
Alonso had no trouble getting through the first round on a single set of fresh tires and then, in Q2, slipped into eighth place while Ocon, who will start 11th, was eliminated. In the final round, Alonso repeated eighth position, ahead of Russell and Gasly , who closes the top 10.
The duel to the bottom and one lap, with little gasoline and new tires, allowed us to see the pure speed of each car and, at least on the Bahrain circuit, Ferrari seems the team to beat just ahead of a Red Bull which it maintains Verstappen . And behind them, but at three tenths, is Mercedes.
In the absence of its first driver (a Vettel who does not race this weekend due to COVID-19), Aston Martin seems to have the slowest car, behind even Williams. In fact, it was striking that four of the five drivers eliminated in Q1 had a Mercedes engine . There, in addition to Tsunoda (very far from his partner), a Ricciardo who accused his lack of testing in Bahrain (he did not contest the tests due to having COVID), Hulkenberg was ahead of Stroll despite his lack of activity, and Nicholas Latifi, who will start last.
Formula 1 Bahrain GP 2022 qualifying times and results
(Click on ‘See results’ to enjoy the entire table and see all the positions)
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | Engine | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
Ferrari | Ferrari | 1’30.558 | ||
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | Honda | 1’30.681 | 0.123 | 0.123 |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
ferrari | ferrari | 1’30,687 | 0.129 | 0.006 |
| 4 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
Red Bull | Sling | 1’30,921 | 0.363 | 0.234 |
| 5 |  Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | Mercedes | 1’31.238 | 0.680 | 0.317 |
| 6 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 1’31.560 | 1.002 | 0.322 |
| 7 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
Haas | Ferrari | 1’31.808 | 1,250 | 0.248 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
Alpine | Renault | 1’32.195 | 1.637 | 0.387 |
| 9 | George Russell |
 |
Mercedes | Mercedes | 1’32.216 | 1.658 | 0.021 |
| 10 |  Pierre Gasly |
 |
AlphaTauri | Honda | 1’32.338 | 1,780 | 0.122 |
| see results | |||||||
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Erik Junius
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Foto de: LAT Images
Foto de: LAT Images
Foto de: LAT Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images
This was the Q1 of the Bahrain GP 2022 F1 classification
When the traffic light that started the first classification came on, only the Williams (with medium tires), the AlphaTauri and the McLaren took to the track. However, they would soon all start to come out, and despite Verstappen taking the lead when he completed his lap, the Ferrari-powered cars ‘tightened the tap’ and Bottas with the Alfa Romeo and Magnussen with the Haas gave a hint of what was to come. .
Charles Leclerc managed to put half a second on Verstappen, and Sainz stayed 96 thousandths behind his partner to give the Cavallino team the momentary double. The Mercedes were yet to start, but Hamilton could only be fifth and Russell tenth in his first step across the finish line.
If the Ferrari engine was the great positive surprise, the negative was given by the McLaren, 15th with Norris and 18th with Ricciardo with the last round remaining.
All but Leclerc, Sainz and Verstappen started for the second time, with Russell improving enough to move ahead of Hamilton. Norris finished ahead of them, but Ricciardo, absent from the tests due to COVID, could not qualify and was eliminated, 18th. Next to him fell the Aston Martin (where Hulkenberg , without preseason, beat Stroll ), Tsunoda with the AlphaTauri and, closing the table, Latifi with the Williams.
F1 Bahrain GP 2022 Q1 Results
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc |
 |
3 | 1’31.471 | ||
| two | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
3 | 1,31,567 | 0.096 | 0.096 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen |
 |
5 | 1’31.785 | 0.314 | 0.218 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas |
 |
6 | 1’31.919 | 0.448 | 0.134 |
| 5 | Kevin Magnussen |
 |
6 | 1’31.955 | 0.484 | 0.036 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
6 | 1’32.041 | 0.570 | 0.086 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
9 | 1’32.096 | 0.625 | 0.055 |
| 8 | Lando Norris |
 |
8 | 1’32.239 | 0.768 | 0.143 |
| 9 | George Russell |
 |
5 | 1’32.269 | 0.798 | 0.030 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
5 | 1’32.285 | 0.814 | 0.016 |
| eleven | Sergio Perez |
|
6 | 1,32,311 | 0.840 | 0.026 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
5 | 1’32.346 | 0.875 | 0.035 |
| 13 |  Mick Schumacher |
 |
6 | 1’32.380 | 0.909 | 0.034 |
| 14 |  Guanyu Zhou |
 |
6 | 1’32.493 | 1.022 | 0.113 |
| 15 |  Alexander Albon |
 |
8 | 1’32.726 | 1.255 | 0.233 |
| 16 16 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
8 | 1’32.750 | 1.279 | 0.024 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg |
 |
6 | 1’32.777 | 1.306 | 0.027 |
| 18 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
8 | 1’32.945 | 1.474 | 0.168 |
| 19 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
6 | 1’33.032 | 1.561 | 0.087 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
8 | 1’33.634 | 2.163 | 0.602 |
| see results | ||||||
This was the Q2 of the classification of the 2022 Bahrain GP of F1
Alex Albon, the only representative of Williams in the second round, was the driver who opened the track when the green light came on and Q2 of the Bahrain classification started. There were still 12 minutes left when the rest began to cheer up and the rest of the cars began to appear on the asphalt, at the same time that Albon aborted his first attempt after an error.
Max Verstappen pressed on his first attempt and took first place, with a 1:30.757 that left Leclerc six tenths (although with used tires) and a little more than his teammate Pérez. After everyone’s first attempt, Hamilton was fifth (behind Magnussen), with Russell sixth. Sainz, also on old tires, was seventh, with Ocon and Alonso eighth and ninth.
In the absence of three minutes, the eliminated were Mick Schumacher, Norris, Gasly, Zhou and Albon. There was still one final attempt left (not made by Verstappen, Magnussen or Albon) and, on fresh tyres, Leclerc closed within two tenths of Verstappen while Sainz was just 30 thousandths behind the Dutchman.
Behind, only Gasly managed to improve, eliminating Esteban Ocon, eleventh with the Alpine. Also out of the final Q3 were Mick Schumacher (12th after an error at turn 11), Lando Norris (13th), Alexander Albon (14th) and Guanyu Zhou (15th).
F1 Bahrain GP 2022 Q2 Results
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen |
 |
3 | 1’30.757 | ||
| two | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
|
6 | 1’30,787 | 0.030 | 0.030 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc |
 |
6 | 1’30.932 | 0.175 | 0.145 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez |
 |
6 | 1’31.008 | 0.251 | 0.076 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton |
|
6 | 1’31.048 | 0.291 | 0.040 |
| 6 | George Russell |
|
6 | 1’31.252 | 0.495 | 0.204 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen |
 |
3 | 1’31.461 | 0.704 | 0.209 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso |
|
6 | 1’31.621 | 0.864 | 0.160 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
6 | 1’31.635 | 0.878 | 0.014 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas |
 |
6 | 1’31.717 | 0.960 | 0.082 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon |
|
6 | 1’31.782 | 1.025 | 0.065 |
| 12 | Mick Schumacher |
 |
5 | 1’31.998 | 1.241 | 0.216 |
| 13 | Lando Norris |
|
6 | 1’32.008 | 1.251 | 0.010 |
| 14 | Alexander Albon |
 |
5 | 1’32.664 | 1.907 | 0.656 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou |
 |
6 | 1’33.543 | 2.786 | 0.879 |
| see results | ||||||
