The shorter track with tight racing will challenge drivers on Sunday.
SAKHIR, Bahrain—Saturday, December 5th—Lewis Hamilton is out with COVID. But that didn’t stop Mercedes from taking the front row for Sunday’s Sakhir Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit. Mercedes #2 drive, Valtteri Bottas, took pole with a last-minute 53. 377 fastest lap. His teammate this week, George Russell, finished second. Max Verstappen was third in his Red Bull.
Valtteri Bottas: It was a different situation today (about not having Hamilton this weekend). I just wanted to focus on my own doing. I managed to do that. I think Saturday we were in a great place as a team. It’s good to be on pole, and I’m happy with that.
Verstappen dominated the earlier third practice and the first two qualifying sessions before Bottas put on two fresh tires for his last run in the third and final session. The Finn received the best time and eventually the pole position. Russell–despite a quick lap in the first sector–was hampered by trouble in the first corner, and the Briton could not improve his time.
Charles Leclerc had a great last-second run in his Ferrari, but could only place fourth, while Sergio Perez was fifth in his Racing Point. Dani Kvyat did not come out until late in the final session but had a decent enough lap to take sixth in his Alpha Tauri. Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh in his Renault. Carlos Sainz Jr. was eighth in his McLaren, and Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll took ninth and tenth in the Alpha Tauri and Racing Point entries, respectively.
Others didn’t fare well, including the American Haas F1 team. Both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean’s replacement, Pietro Fittipaldi, place 16th and 20th, respectively, and were knocked out of the first session. Joining them were Kimi Raikkonen, and the two Williams’ drivers, Nicholas Latifi and Jack Aiken, who replaced Russell. Alexander Albon, Esteban Ocon, Sebastian Vettel, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Lando Norris were eliminated from the second session.
This track is short, which means there will be many laps with tight racing. But besides keeping an eye on his teammate at the start, Bottas believes Sunday will be a touch-and-go situation. “We’ll go from there,” Bottas said. “It feels like a bit of a Mickey Mouse track, but we will see tomorrow.”
