Max Verstappen picked up where he left off last season and took the opening pole for Red Bull, managing to beat Charles Leclerc's Ferrari by 0.2 seconds. It's been a dream start to his title defense, but while the Dutchman will go to bed happy tonight, some of the other drivers may not be as happy with their performance. Here are the best facts and statistics from the intense qualifying in Bahrain…
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Max Verstappen equals Jim Clark and Alain Prost's 33 career pole positions for fifth place on the all-time list
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The Dutchman has won the last 16 races in a row after starting from pole position, which is a record winning streak.
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Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were the two best qualifiers in this order on average in 2023
Read more: Verstappen beats Leclerc and Russell to take pole position for season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix
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Leclerc earned his sixth consecutive front-row start and outscored his teammate for eight races in a row, the current longest streak in F1.
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This will be the fourth consecutive race in which Verstappen and Leclerc will share the front row in any order.
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George Russell finished third in the final five races of 2023 with only one top-three start.
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Russell started second on the outer loop of the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, marking his best start on this track layout in Bahrain.
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Sainz finished fourth, the same position he started here last year.
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Sergio Perez qualified fifth, having only started in the top four once in his last 18 Grands Prix.
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Fernando Alonso finished 6th, dropping one place from last year.
F1 Explained: How drivers and teams master the adrenaline-filled Grand Prix start
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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished seventh and eighth respectively, marking McLaren's first top 10 finish since 2021.
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Lewis Hamilton's ninth was his lowest start in Bahrain, while his other two were due to grid penalties in 2013 and 2018.
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Nico Hulkenberg starts 10th here for the second year in a row
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Yuki Tsunoda missed out on qualifying for Q3 by just 0.007 seconds, but never made it to the top 10 shootout in Bahrain.
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Lance Stroll has only reached Q3 once in the past 10 races.
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Alex Albon's 13th place was Williams' best grid slot since 2017
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Chou Guanyu suffered his fourth consecutive Q1 loss, the longest such streak for a player on the grid.
Bahrain Grand Prix – Read the all-new digital race program here
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Pierre Gasly started last in Bahrain for the second year in a row, but managed to finish 9th last season.
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Enstone has had the slowest two cars in qualifying since Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer in Azerbaijan in 2016.
