MONTMELO, SPAIN – MARCH 09: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 during day four of F1 Winter Testing at Circuit de Catalunya on March 9, 2018 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
MONTMELO, SPAIN – MARCH 09: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 during day four of F1 Winter Testing at Circuit de Catalunya on March 9, 2018 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Sebastian Vettel will line up at the top of the grid on Sunday, after holding his nerve to take pole position in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Sakhir circuit saw the mercury top 32C before qualifying began. However, it was Vettel who kept his cool and held off challenges from Kimi Raikkonen and Valterri Bottas, who will start in second and third place respectively. Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly make up the top five.
Lewis Hamilton will begin the race in 9th, following his five-place grid penalty. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen crashed out early on at turn 2. He’ll be starting from the back of the grid on Sunday.
.@BAH_Int_Circuit looking ????#BahrainGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/NFkUXRWQAP
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 7, 2018
Qualifying and Practice results in Bahrain
The bar was set pretty high in qualifying by Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn clocked a best lap of one minute and 29.868 seconds to outpace Dutchman Max Verstappen by half a second as defending champions Mercedes laboured in pursuit.
Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate, four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel, withdrew from the final minutes of the practice session without clocking a flying lap.
Bahrain Grand Prix: Grid line up
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
- Esteban Ocon (Force India)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Carlos Sainz (Renault)
- Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
- Sergio Perez (Force India)
- Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
- Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Romain Grosjean (Haas)
- Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
- Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
- Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
- Lance Stroll (Williams)
What time does the Bahrain Grand Prix start?
We’ve got a more sociable start time than what we experienced in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. The race begins at 17:10 SAST. So just before you have to face the grim reality of a Monday, you can lose yourself in what’s sure to a breathtaking fight for first.
They are one hour ahead of South Africa in Bahrain, so the local time in Sakhir will be 18:10. If you’re working on GMT, you need to be tuned in at 16:10.
For a full, comprehensive list of this season’s races and their SAST start times, consult our handy little guide here.
