The first Formula 1 qualifying session of the 2023 season took place under the lights and in the desert at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain with the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez taking P1 and P2 respectively.

Red Bull was followed by the Ferrari's of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with both drivers filling out the second row of Sunday's starting grid, respectively.

"It's always difficult to have a clear picture going into the very first qualifying of the season, as you come here not knowing where the others are, but in the end we got a good result today", said Ferrari's new Team Principal, Frederic Vasseur.

"We were P1 in both Q1 and Q2 so it was looking good for the fight for pole, but then we decided with Charles to save one set of new tyres for tomorrow's race, whereas with Carlos we used another new set since it was such a tight qualifying and a new tyre made the difference," added Vasseur, hinting at the drama that will unfold on Sunday with Ferrari's tyre advantage.

The Silver Arrows of Mercedes will start sixth and seventh on Sunday but the surprise qualifier, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, will start in the fifth position. Alonso's teammate, Lance Stroll, will start eighth, capping a remarkable qualifying effort for the AMR23's of Aston Martin.

Stroll is recovering from an off season hand injury.

"To get both cars through to Q3 in fifth and eighth is an excellent outcome from the first qualifying session of the year," said Aston Martin's Team Principal, Mike Krack.

"I must say a big well done to the whole team - back at base and here at the track - for their constant hard work to get us to this point," added Krack. "The goal has been to take a step forward and our performance across today indicates we have done just that. We can race well from those grid positions and target scoring points with both cars."

"Huge credit to Lance for his performance today, especially given his situation, and having missed all of winter testing," said Krack.

Alpine's Estaban Ocon will start P9 on Sunday.

Veteran driver Nico Hulkenberg of Haas Racing, who is having a remarkable start to the 2023 season, will round out the top 10.

"It was a pretty good day for us today. I think we now know what we can do this year and I think Nico did a fantastic job on his comeback," said Haas Team Principal, Guenther Steiner.

"With Nico in Q3, we didn't end up where we wanted to but P10 is very good for us. The whole team did a fantastic job and all the work that was put in last year and over winter to make and develop this car has come to fruition, so well done to everybody," said Steiner.

Name			Team		Tyres	Laps	Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:29.708	134.956 mph
2	Perez		Red Bull	1:29.846	0.138
3	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:30.000	0.292
4	Sainz		Ferrari		1:30.154	0.446
5	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:30.336	0.628
6	Russell		Mercedes	1:30.340	0.632
7	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:30.384	0.676
8	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:30.836	1.128
9	Ocon		Alpine		1:30.984	1.276
10	Hulkenberg	Haas		No Time	
11	Norris		McLaren		1:31.381	
12	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:31.443	
13	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:31.473	
14	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:32.510	
15	Albon		Williams	No Time	
16	Sargeant	Williams	1:31.652	
17	Magnussen	Haas		1:31.892	
18	Piastri		McLaren		1:32.101	
19	de Vries	AlphaTauri	1:32.121	
20	Gasly		Alpine		1:32.181

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media & Alpine F1 Media)