{"id":18833,"date":"2024-03-01T12:34:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T17:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=18833"},"modified":"2024-03-01T12:34:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T17:34:15","slug":"max-verstappen-takes-pole-position-in-bahrain-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/01\/max-verstappen-takes-pole-position-in-bahrain-qualifying\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen takes Pole Position in Bahrain Qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Max Verstappen asserted himself once again in Bahrain qualifying, putting the RB20 in Pole Position.<\/h3>\n<p>After a series of close free practice sessions, Max Verstappen stamped his authority on the field. The Dutchman claimed Pole Position for Red Bull, although a stronger chasing pack than last year accompanies him.<\/p>\n<p>Adrian Newey&#8217;s RB20 was always the favourite to go fastest. A well-timed run from the 3-time Champion also granted him a helpful dose of slipstream from Oscar Piastri in Q3.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Leclerc was just behind, confirming the Ferrari SF-24 as a strong contender.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Maranello-based team&#8217;s long-run pace seems far better this season. This should give Leclerc better chances of competing at the front tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>George Russell managed P3 in the W15, keeping his positive momentum from FP3. The Silver Arrows will be pleased with the reduced gap to Verstappen compared to Bahrain 2023.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"iN96mENhQfpFVm6iDfo59g\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2050970280\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'iN96mENhQfpFVm6iDfo59g',sig:'618dVKf64iVdFjqz36Z5x4NahGr1jrM8HlNDVhw3Bnk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2050970280',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Fine margins across the field<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez finished 4th and 5th respectively, both slightly behind their teammates.<\/p>\n<p>Fernando Alonso put together a solid lap to put himself P6, within hundredths of Russell&#8217;s best time.<\/p>\n<p>Aston Martin sent the 42-year-old out on track halfway through the season. This decision somewhat punished him today, but should pay dividends in the Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>Norris and Piastri were P7 and P8, completing an underwhelming though far from catastrophic session for McLaren.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton will be disappointed with 9th place, finishing several tenths away from his teammate.<\/p>\n<p>Nico Hulkenberg was excellent once again in qualifying, confirming that Haas remains a threat on low-fuel.<\/p>\n<p>If the VF-24 can look after its tyres, the American outfit can fight for points tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"8FPsd2mNT7lbfk3IXkYyyw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2048640024\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'8FPsd2mNT7lbfk3IXkYyyw',sig:'1AX_vDV-lAWcngmEPOf_mbnFN_hzb_raGkgmJ3Gb4g4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2048640024',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Yuki Tsunoda finished in 11th once again, just 0.007 away from making it into the final shootout.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Japanese driver will be pleased to qualify teammate Daniel Ricciardo, especially after a difficult sequence of practice sessions.<\/p>\n<p>Lance Stroll will be disappointed to finish outside the top 10, although at least the AMR24 has clear speed.<\/p>\n<p>At the very back, Alpine confirmed the suspicions held across the paddock prior to this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Team Enstone is a long way off the pace, and needs to find drastic improvement quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Max Verstappen asserted himself once again in Bahrain qualifying, putting the RB20 in Pole Position. After a series of close free practice sessions, Max Verstappen stamped his authority on the field. The Dutchman claimed Pole Position for Red Bull, although a stronger chasing pack than last year accompanies him. Adrian Newey&#8217;s RB20 was always the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":18834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,68,2238,23,79,78],"class_list":["post-18833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-f1","tag-f1-2024","tag-formula-1","tag-max-verstappen","tag-red-bull-racing"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}