RED BULL FINALLY BEAT MERCEDES AMG, MAX ON POLE FOR BAHRAIN GP

Qualifying before the first race of the 2021 season summed up the results of months of hard work. During the test session in Bahrain, we all talked about a possible alignment of F1 teams, some predictions came true, some did not, there were some surprises.

In the practice sessions, Max Verstappen led confidently, but the results were far from last year`s times. Everyone lost in speed, but these losses affected the teams in different ways. The first qualifiers of the season highlighted several interesting sights.

Three drivers, Nikita Mazepin, Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda, competed in Formula One for the first time.

In Q1, everyone used red tires. In the first minutes, Mazepin had a spin, after which he had to box for new tires. After the first fast laps, Max Verstappen had the fastest time, but Tsunoda was impressive in second place, losing only a tenth of the Dutchman's time.

Verstappen, Tsunoda and Gasly did not went out on the track for the second time, while everyone else had to do it. Another spin for Mazepin followed, forcing many drivers to cancel their lap due to the yellow flags. Several drivers were under investigation, but there were no penalties.

Moments later, a Ferrari PU lost power in Sainz's car, and yellow flags reappeared in the second sector of the track. The Ferrari driver managed to reach his garage.

No one could beat Verstappen, and Esteban Ocon, Nicolas Latifi, Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher and the "ballet dancer" Nikita Mazepin dropped out of the fight.

The German in Aston Martin, who lost the most from the yellow flags, failed to score time for passing to the further part of the qualifications.

In the Q2 session, drivers from Red Bull, Mercedes AMG, McLaren and AlphaTauri made their first fast lap of yellow tires, expecting to start tomorrow with the harder compaund, as red tires quickly lose their effectiveness during the race.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez and McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo still do not have full confidence in their new cars, so when it was most needed they went off the track on the fourth corner, after which their times were deleted.

In his first fast lap, Lewis Hamilton had the fastest time on the yellow tires, a few tenths ahead of Max Ferstappen.

In the second lap, Hamilton, Botas, Gasly, Tsunoda and Perez came out on top again, but the Ferrari drivers opted for the red tires, after which they recorded the fastest times in the session. Carlos Sainz Jr. was 0.001 of a second faster than Charles Leclerc.

That meant the end of qualifying for Sergio Perez, Antonio Giovinacci, Yuki Tsunoda, Kimi Raikkonen and George Russell.

In the final Q3 session, all the drivers got on the red tires again, and Leclerc, Alonso and Stroll decided to skip the first attempt. Verstappen was the fastest, 0.023 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

In the second fast laps, Verstappen completed an incredible lap, almost four tenths ahead of the second fastest time for Lewis Hamilton and six tenths ahead of third-placed Valtteri Bottas.

This was Max Verstappen's fourth Pole position in his career and his second in a row. Lewis Hamilton will start next to him from the front row, Bottas and Leclerc from the second, Gasly and Ricciardo will start from the third.

BAHRAIN GP - QUALIFYING
P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP
1.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:28.997
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:29.385	+ 0.388
3.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	1:29.586	+ 0.589
4.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:29.678	+ 0.681
5.	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:29.809	+ 0.812
6.	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:29.927	+ 0.930
7.	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:29.974	+ 0.977
8.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:30.215	+ 1.218
9.	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1:30.249	+ 1.252
10.	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:30.601	+ 1.604
Q2 Fastest Time: Carlos Sainz Jr. - 1:30.009
11.	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1:30.659	+ 0.650
12.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1:30.708	+ 0.699
13.	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:31.203	+ 1.194
14.	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1:31.238	+ 1.229
15.	George Russell	Williams	1:33.430	+ 3.421
Q1 Fastest Timep: Max Verstappen - 1:30.499
16.	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:31.724	+ 1.225
17.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:31.936	+ 1.437
18.	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1:32.056	+ 1.557
19.	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1:32.449	+ 1.950
20.	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1:33.273	+ 2.774
107% time: 1:36.834
HISTORY - SAKHIR CIRCUIT 2010 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1:54.101 2011 / 2012 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1:32.422 2013 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes AMG - 1:32.330 2014 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes AMG - 1:33.185 2015 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:32.571 2016 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:29.493 2017 Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes AMG - 1:28.769 2018 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:27.958 2019 Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - 1:27.867 2020 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:27.264 2021 Max Verstappen - Red Bull - 1:28.997 @MkFormula1 - REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA