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Tyres NorthamptonFormula One's new era will come with a changing of the guard if Saturday's qualifying session at Bahrain is anything to go by. Charles Leclerc took the opening pole position of 2022 as he and his Ferrari team lived up to their pre-season hype. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen will join the Monegasque driver on the front row after edging out Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz who will start in P3.
Leclerc's first pole position since his home event last year was far from certain, as the sister F1-75 sat in the provisional pole slot once all drivers finished their first Q3 runs. He and Verstappen had to dig deep on their second outing to take the front row away from Sainz, who is still seeking his maiden P1 start. The Spaniard failed to improve at the second of asking to finish in a frustrating third place, just 0.006s shy of Verstappen's Red Bull, but 0.234s ahead of Sergio Perez in fourth.
The levels of delight at Maranello will be equalled by the concern at Brackley as Mercedes, the eight-time constructor champions, sit in no man's land behind Red Bull and Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes debutant George Russell originally went out on used sets of the red-walled Pirelli soft tyres in Q3 and sat well over a second behind the pacesetters. Their final placement of 5th and 9th, respectively, is a far cry from their usually table-topping antics, though they may have an additional set of new rubber for the race.
Drivers also saving their Pirellis from unnecessary Q3 running were Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, and the returning Kevin Magnussen. Each impressed to reach Q3 but chose to sit out the first runs and instead concentrated on last gasp efforts, with all three filling the gap between the two Silver Arrows. Pierre Gasly's ability to outclass his teammates in qualifying trim continued into 2022 with P10.
Ferrari power seems to have boosted the six cars on the grid with Prancing Horse power units, with much better showings from Alfa Romeo and Haas than in recent years. Bottas in P6 and Magnussen in P7 wouldn't have made many people's predictions, especially considering they each chose to run just one set of Pirelli soft tyres apiece in that final qualifying session.
Haas and Alfa Romeo's success was further cemented by both teams' junior drivers reaching Q2. Rookie Guanyu Zhou will line up from P15 on debut, with Mick Schumacher qualifying a career-best P12. Zhou's starting position could've been higher still, if not for having his lap time deleted for putting all four wheels off track at T5.
Qualifying had a notably different feeling this year as all twenty runners stuck with the Pirelli soft compound tyre for every venture out on track. With no stipulation that drivers reaching Q3 must run the same set of tyres that they set their fastest Q2 time with, the hour was all about outright pace. As such, there were no shock exits from top teams gambling on harder rubber in the hope of strategic advantages in the race, although the reshuffled running order still provided some surprising early departures.
McLaren, most notably, were wildly off the pace, with neither Lando Norris nor Daniel Ricciardo reaching the final qualifying session thanks to an underpowered-looking MCL36. As a result, hopes for the Australian signing to right the wrongs of last year faltered immediately, and Danny Ric will begin the race in a chastening P18, with Norris in 13th.
The McLaren pairing represents two of six Mercedes-powered cars that occupy the bottom eight places. Nicholas Latifi returned to the back of the grid for the first time since 2020 in his Williams, far adrift of returnee Alex Albon who took 14th.
The Aston Martins also suffered an embarrassing Saturday evening under the Sakhir Circuit lights. Lance Stroll is on the back row and two places behind Nico Hulkenberg, who only jumped into the car for the first time on Friday to deputise for Sebastian Vettel, who will sit out thanks to his positive Covid test.
Lights out for the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix is at 3 PM GMT and, based on this qualifying session, will be an unmissable afternoon's entertainment.
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