Red Bull's Max Verstappen now has 33 pole positions for his F1 career, matching his old number and making him tied for fifth all-time.
It’s a new season, but it could be the same old story.
Reigning three-time world champion Max Verstappen started his drive for a fourth straight title with a not-so-shocking pole position ahead of the first Grand Prix of the 2024 Formula 1 season in Bahrain.
Max showed fine form, topping the qualifying session when it counted.
Verstappen, driving Red Bull Racing’s all-new RB20, clocked in at 1:29.179 in Q3, a gap of +0.228 from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will start Saturday’s main race second on the grid.
But while Red Bull and Verstappen appear to be headed for another dominant season, the threat of the Scuderia looms.
Carlos Sainz actually topped Q1, and Leclerc was first in Q2. The latter’s time in Q2 of 1:29.165 was actually faster than Max’s time to nabbed him pole position.
The second row of the Bahrain Grand Prix will feature Mercedes’ George Russell in third, and Sainz in fourth.
Rounding out the top-10 are Segio Perez for Red Bull, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, and Niko Hulkenberg for Haas.
Bahrain 2024 is Verstappen’s 33rd pole position, which ties him with Jim Clark and Alain Prost for 5th-most in F1 history. The Red Bull star has converted his last 16 pole positions into Grand Prix wins.