Scuderia Ferrari produced an outstanding team result in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2022 season. Charles Leclerc steered his F1-75 to pole position, while Carlos Sainz was third quickest, just over a tenth of a second behind his team-mate and only six thousandths off second placed Max Verstappen.

The pole was Leclerc's tenth career pole and Ferrari's 231st, its first since Charles was also quickest in qualifying in Baku in 2021.

"We knew that it was just a matter of time before we were back in the mix and I'd like to thank our whole team for the hard work that everyone has done to put our car back where it belongs," said Leclerc. "We are all happy with today's result, but at the same time we are aware that we can't relax and have to keep pushing because our competitors are strong."

Like all the drivers, Leclerc got through qualifying using the P Zero Red soft tyre only: a total of four sets, one each in Q1 and Q2, then two sets in Q3. The only exception was Williams, which did an in and out run with mediums.

The qualifying hour got away at 6pm local time with track temperatures of 24 degrees centigrade and 20 degrees ambient, similar to yesterday's FP2 session. FP3, which took place three hours earlier, was considerably warmer (similar to FP1), with the fastest time set by Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

"Overall, it's not a bad position to be in, of course you always want more but this is a positive start to the season. I think we have a good race car which is important and with it being the start of the season, there are still a lot of things to learn. Q2 was good but Q3 was a bit more hit and miss with not really getting the right balance," said Verstappen.

Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton, will start the Bahrain Grand Prix from P5 after struggling in the Free Practice sessions. Hamilton's new teammate, George Russell, will start in P9.

"The session was tough but I'm really proud of what we've managed to do, given the issues we've had the past week," said Hamilton. "Those guys ahead of us are on another level at the moment but there's a lot to play for tomorrow at the start and with strategy so I hope I can at least stay with them and stay in the fight."

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN claimed a place in Q3 at the first time of asking as Valtteri Bottas recorded a P6 in qualifying. P6 represents the team's best qualifying performance since the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix

Valtteri's team-mate, Zhou Guanyu, qualified to Q2 on his debut weekend and will start in P15 on the grid.

"Starting our season with a car in Q3 and one in Q2 is a really good outcome and it's a big confidence boost for the whole team," said Alfa Romeo Team Principal, Frederic Vasseur. "Everyone here and in Hinwil worked really hard to get to tonight in the best possible conditions, but then it was a matter of delivering when it counted - and we did it."

Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher qualified 7th and 12th respectively.

Haas qualified both its drivers into Q2 for the first time since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

A Q2 lap of 1:31.461 from Kevin Magnussen, on the soft C3 tire, saw the Dane advance his VF-22 into Q3 on his return to Formula 1 - also the first top 10 appearance by a Haas car in qualifying since Brazil 2019.

Magnussen was a late runner in Q3, the 29-year-old joining the final session with just three minutes to the checkered after the team worked on a hydraulic issue that had presented itself in Q2.

"It's crazy. This is all we ever could've hoped for - I'm speechless. The last couple of weeks have been insane." said Magnussen. "Getting here, learning about the car, seeing that it is maybe a pretty good one and being so anxious about this qualifying to really see how it is and then finding out it is really good."

The big decision for the teams going into Sunday's Grand Prix, which starts at 6pm local time, will be which tyre compound to start on, with the whole field now given a free choice of starting tyres - making the strategy even more open than before.

As there is a performance gap in terms of lap time between the compounds, those starting on the soft tyre will have a pace advantage initially compared to those on mediums, while anyone wanting to start on the hard will face a considerable speed deficit.

Qualifying

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:30.558	133.689 mph
2	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:30.681	0.123
3	Sainz		Ferrari		1:30.687	0.129
4	Perez		Red Bull	1:30.921	0.363
5	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.238	0.680
6	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:31.560	1.002
7	Magnussen	Haas		1:31.808	1.250
8	Alonso		Alpine		1:32.195	1.637
9	Russell		Mercedes	1:32.216	1.658
10	Gasly		AlphaTauri	1:32.338	1.780
11	Ocon		Alpine		1:31.782	
12	Schumacher	Haas		1:31.998	
13	Norris		McLaren		1:32.008	
14	Albon		Williams	1:32.664	
15	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:33.543	
16	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:32.750	
17	Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	1:32.777	
18	Ricciardo	McLaren		1:32.945	
19	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:33.032	
20	Latifi		Williams	1:33.634	

FP3

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:32.544	130.820 mph
2	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:32.640	0.096
3	Perez		Red Bull	1:32.791	0.247
4	Russell		Mercedes	1:32.935	0.391
5	Sainz		Ferrari		1:33.053	0.509
6	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:33.121	0.577
7	Magnussen	Haas		1:33.437	0.893
8	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:33.733	1.189
9	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:33.880	1.336
10	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:33.920	1.376
11	Norris		McLaren		1:33.955	1.411
12	Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	1:33.971	1.427
13	Gasly		AlphaTauri	1:34.176	1.632
14	Schumacher	Haas		1:34.295	1.751
15	Ricciardo	McLaren		1:34.378	1.834
16	Alonso		Alpine		1:34.628	2.084
17	Albon		Williams	1:34.868	2.324
18	Ocon		Alpine		1:34.957	2.413
19	Latifi		Williams	1:35.667	3.123
20	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	No Time