Oscar Piastri dominates qualifying at Bahrain GP as Lando Norris, Max Verstappen struggle

Oscar Piastri has claimed pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with stablemate Lando Norris left frustrated after a much tougher day out at qualifying.

Australian Formula One star Oscar Piastri has taken pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix after a stunning performance in qualifying that has reinforced his growing claims as one of the favourites for the world championship.

The hottest young talent in motorsport, Piastri captured the second pole position of his fledgling F1 career - just three weeks after he topped the timesheets for the Chinese Grand Prix, which he won in brilliant fashion.

Apart from an early hiccup in the first practice session, Piastri dominated every session in Bahrain then stepped up under intense pressure to post the fastest time in the final qualifying session to book his place at the front of the grid, while his main title rivals, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, both faltered.

STARTING GRID:
1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 3. George Russell (Mercedes) 4. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 6. Lando Norris (McLaren) 7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 8. Carlos Sainz (Williams) 9. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 11. Jack Doohan (Alpine) 12. Isack hadjar (Racing Bulls) 13. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 14. Esteban Ocon (Haas) 15. Alex Albon (Williams) 16. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 17. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 18. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 20. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

Piastri’s McLaren teammate Norris could only manage sixth in qualifying while Verstappen was seventh for Red Bull, giving Piastri a massive advantage ahead of the fourth race of the season.

“I felt confident out there pretty much all weekend,” Piastri said.

“FP1 was an experience for us all I think, it felt more like a rally car than an F1 car but from then on I felt really comfortable with the car.

“FP3 we had good pace and qualifying, the others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted but I still delivered the laps when it mattered which is the most important thing at the end so I’m very happy.”

McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix

Piastri is currently third in the drivers’ championship standings behind Norris, who won the opening round in Melbourne and Verstappen, who took the checkered flag in Japan last weekend, but with a real chance of closing the 12-point gap and possibly taking the lead if he can win in Bahrain after the first three races this season were all won by the driver on pole position.

“I’ve got to get to turn one first so let’s see what happens but I felt like I’ve been comfortable all weekend,” Piastri said.

“And there’s no better place to start that on pole so I can’t thank the team enough for the car they’ve given me. I’m excited for the race tomorrow.“

Piastri will start on the front grid alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who set the third fastest time but was elevated to second after Britain’s George Russell was hit with a one-place grid penalty for leaving the garage too early at the start of the second qualifying phase.

George Russell (3rd), Oscar Piastri (1st) and Charles Leclerc (2nd) after qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix

Russell’s Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli was also demoted one place after qualifying fourth. He will now start fifth, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly promoted to start alongside Russell on the second row.

While disappointed Norris finished so far back, McLaren team boss Zac Brown said Piastri had done a great job and was clearly up for the championship fight, which was already looming as a three-way battle.

“Extremely happy for Oscar. That was a mega lap. He’s been very strong all weekend,” Brown said.

“He’s been awesome. He’s getting stronger and stronger, he didn’t put a wheel wrong.

“He (Piastri) is just getting on with it. He’s doing a great job, he’s in a great frame of mind and feels very comfortable in the car, so excited for tomorrow’s race.”

Not happy. Lando Norris qualified sixth

Norris could not hide his frustration at his lack of pace after his best time was almost half a second slower than Piastri’s quickest flying lap around the Bahrain circuit.

“I was just slow,” Norris said. “I have been slow this whole weekend, to be honest. Nothing too surprising. I have just been off it.

“The car is amazing. I have nothing to complain about, the team are doing an amazing job but I am just letting them down.”

Verstappen was also left scratching his head.

“For whatever reason I have been struggling with the brakes,” the four-time world champion said.

“It is something we need to investigate and general grip throughout the lap.

“It was quite inconsistent, and that makes it very hard to understand what you need from the car when for whatever reason we can’t seem to make the tyres work.

“We have tried a lot with the set-up but nothing really gave us a clear answer, so that is a bit of a shame.”

Russell was thrilled to start the race alongside Piastri but said he didn’t expect to beat the Australian in the race.

Jack Doohan drives qualified 11th

There was good news too for Australia’s Jack Doohan, who will start 11th for Alpine, after producing his best result in qualifying in just his fifth Grand Prix.

“I have mixed emotions after that session even if the majority of the evening was largely very positive,” Doohan said.

“Starting in eleventh means we are knocking on the door of the points so we will see what we can do on strategy and aim to convert today into a top ten finish in the race.”

Originally published as Oscar Piastri dominates qualifying at Bahrain GP as Lando Norris, Max Verstappen struggle