SAKHIR, Bahrain – Sebastien Vettel scored his 51st Formula One pole position during qualifying for the Grand Prix of Bahrain on Saturday with the fastest-ever lap around Bahrain Int’l Circuit.
Vettel toured the 15-turn, 3.363-mile Sakhir circuit in one minute, 27.958 seconds with his No. 5 Ferrari SF71H, earning the prime starting position for Sunday’s 57-lap race after three knockout rounds.
The pole was Vettel’s third in Bahrain and the German led a front-row lockout for Ferrari, with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen qualifying second.
“I have to breathe after that lap,” said Vettel upon climbing from his car. “That was intense. On the first run there in Q3, I was very happy (with the lap) and then I tossed it away in the last corner. I’m really pleased that I got (to make) the second run and got it clean. I knew in the last turn I needed to stay away from the curb, and then I was just looking around to see where the others were.
“The car has been excellent so far. It’s responding to what I want it to do. In Australia, it was more of a fight, but we looked into what we wanted and we’ve improved very well. … I’m very pleased.”
Vettel will make his milestone 200th grand prix start on Sunday, seeking what would be a record fourth win in Bahrain and his second in a row.
“I’m feeling good now, but tomorrow’s a different story,” said Vettel. “It’s not easy to make the tires last, but the car is quick, so that usually helps. Really special to do this in my 200th start. Looking forward to tomorrow.”
Raikkonen was fastest after his first run in Q3, but was jumped by Vettel during his final run and missed the pole by .143 of a second.
“It was a good run,” said a stoic Raikkonen. “(Conditions were) far from ideal on the last run with traffic, but what can you do?”
Mercedes teammates Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton qualified third and fourth, respectively, but Hamilton will start ninth after incurring a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change on Friday.
That elevated Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to fourth on the grid, followed by the Toro Rosso-Honda of Pierre Gasly, who qualified sixth but will start fifth on Sunday – Honda’s best F-1 start as an engine supplier in dry conditions.
Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Force India’s Esteban Ocon, Hamilton and the second Renault of Carlos Sainz fill out the first five rows of the grid.
While Toro Rosso put one of its Hondas into the final round in the team’s second race with the new engine manufacturer, both McLaren-Renaults missed the cut in Q2. Fernando Alonso qualified 13th and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne ended up 14th at the end of round two.
Notably, Max Verstappen failed to advance to Q3 for the first time since the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix, after his Red Bull lost traction at the exit of turn two and he crashed into the tire barriers with five minutes remaining in the opening round.
Verstappen’s lap of 1:29.374 – which was fourth-quick in Q1 – did advance him to the second round, but his car was too damaged to continue. As a result, the Dutchman will roll off 15th on Sunday.
Alonso and Romain Grosjean posted identical times of 1:30.530 in the final moments of Q1, tying for the 15th and final transfer spot, but Alonso advanced over Grosjean due to posting his lap first.
