The second row of the grid at the Sakhir circuit went to the Spanish Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) and the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), third and fourth respectively in the qualifying session, while the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes ) was fifth.
The first three of the qualifying session were this Saturday in a margin of just 129 thousandths of a second.
Hamilton had more trouble and was 680 thousandths behind Leclerc on the day’s time sheet.
Irony of fate, Hamilton will start on Sunday alongside his former Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, who now runs for Alfa Romeo and was sixth.
They will be followed on the grid by the Danish Kevin Magnussen (Haas), who surprised being seventh in the session on his return to F1 after a year of absence, while the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Alpine) was eighth and the new signing of Mercedes , the British George Russell, had to settle for a ninth place.
At Aston Martin, the German Nico Hülkenberg replaces his compatriot Sebastian Vettel this weekend, who tested positive for covid-19, and could barely be 17th, although he was better than the other driver of the team, the Canadian Lance Stroll, who it was 19th.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, 18th, is having a difficult comeback in his McLaren for now, having missed the last pre-season tests in Bahrain due to a positive covid.
— Bahrain GP starting grid:
1st line:
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)
Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)
2nd line:
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)
3rd line:
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)
Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari)
4th line:
Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault)
5th line:
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Red Bull)
6th line:
Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault)
Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari)
7th line:
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes)
8th line:
Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull)
9th line:
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes)
10th line:
Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes)
Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes)
– Bahrain GP Qualifying Session Q3 Results:
1. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:30.558
2. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:30.681
3. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:30.687
4. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:30.921
5. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:31.238
6. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:31.560
7. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 1:31.808
8. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 1:32.195
9. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:32.216
10. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:32.338
