The first Formula 1 qualifying session of 2024 got underway at the Bahrain International Circuit outside of Sakhir, Bahrain on Friday, March 1st, with 2023 Champion, Max Verstappen, starting where he left off in 2023 - qualifying on the pole position for Saturday's running of the 20th Bahrain Grand Prix.

"Testing was really good and then this weekend was a bit more tricky for us; it was difficult to get the balance of the car right due to the tricky conditions with the wind being quite strong," said the three time consecutive Formula 1 World Champion.

"Heading into qualifying, no one knew where we all stood and it was very tight, but this is exciting for the sport. We made some good improvements on the car and also improved performance from FP3 to qualifying and in Q3 we had a little bit more grip," said Verstappen.

Ferrari's Charle's Leclerc, qualifying two tenth's of one second behind Verstappen, will start second for Saturday's Grand Prix. Mercedes Racing's George Russell, three tenths off the qualifying pace, will start third.

"I found the sweet spot in qualifying," said Leclerc. "We went out on a set of used tyres at first in Q3 which compromised our rhythm a bit, before switching to a new set but overall, it feels like we are in a better place than we were at the start of last year."

Seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who will be Leclerc's teammate in 2025, qualified ninth after setting the pace in the second Free Practice session on Thursday.

"Yesterday we looked slightly better than today on our single lap performance. We intentionally tried to set the car up for tomorrow's race though, so we hope we're in more of a sweet spot for the Grand Prix tomorrow," said Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal & CEO.

Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz, qualified fourth.

McLaren Racing, who have not made it into Q3 for the last three years at Bahrain, saw their drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, qualify P7 and P8, respectively.

"Overall, we can be quite pleased with the performance of the car. We are the most improved team on the grid compared to this time last year and we were in the mix in qualifying for the top positions on the grid," said Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal.

Haas Racing's veteran driver, Nico Hulkenberg, put in an outstanding performance for his new Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu, qualifying tenth.

"At the end of last year, I still managed to put it into Q3 a few times and we knew from last season qualifying was our strength. It looks like we've not lost it, but we need to fix the race day issue from before," said Hulkenberg.

Two time World Champion, Fernando Alonzo, driving for Aston Martin, qualified sixth.

Qualifying Results

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap


1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:29.179	135.756 mph
2	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:29.407	0.228
3	Russell		Mercedes	1:29.485	0.306
4	Sainz		Ferrari		1:29.507	0.328
5	Perez		Red Bull	1:29.537	0.358
6	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:29.542	0.363
7	Norris		McLaren		1:29.614	0.435
8	Piastri		McLaren		1:29.683	0.504
9	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.710	0.531
10	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:30.502	1.323
11	Tsunoda		RB		1:30.129	
12	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:30.200	
13	Albon		Williams	1:30.221	
14	Ricciardo	RB		1:30.278	
15	Magnussen	Haas		1:30.529	
16	Bottas		Stake		1:30.756	
17	Zhou		Stake		1:30.757	
18	Sargeant	Williams	1:30.770	
19	Ocon		Alpine		1:30.793	
20	Gasly		Alpine		1:30.948	

(image provided by Aston Martin F1 Media)