Double Pole for Ferrari at the Bahrain GP 2018

Double pole for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton penalized, Verstappen in the gang and Gasly on Toro Rosso in 6th place - these are the highlights of qualifying in the Formula 1 race of the Bahrain Grand Prix 2018.

As dusk fell, the second qualifying session of the 2018 Formula 1 season started under the floodlights. Mercedes seemed to have problems with the tires, allegedly, yet Lewis Hamilton managed to advance to 4th place on medium tires (yellow). With this, Hamilton surprised everyone, no one had expected such a performance with medium tires. It can be assumed that Hamilton will go for a 1-stop strategy in the race, as he will be penalized 5 places back due to an unauthorized gearbox change at the start. And Hamilton could become a real stumbling block for Ferrari, Ferrari should definitely not underestimate him. Ferrari showed itself sovereign and set a new best mark on the track with the driven 1:27.958, which Vettel needed for the lap. Ferrari showed dominance and confidence, dominating all three qualifying rounds (Q1-Q3). Together with the victory in Australia, this is a strong start to the year for the Reds. In the race, they promise to outrun the other teams.

In Q1, Romain Grosjean braked badly as his tires were apparently not yet warm enough, and Max Verstappen, to the surprise of the spectators, really managed to get the car to overspin and slam into the barrier, which led to the interruption of Q1 and meant Verstappen had to start from the back of the grid. A real setback for Red Bull, but that's not so surprising, the impetuous Dutchman is always good for such antics, it's the classic Sturm und Drang of youth. Vettel also showed his impetuosity when he overshot the turn in Q3 and closed shortly behind his teammate. That was already a clear sign that Vettel must have been going faster than the earth. In his final attempt, the German then remained flawless and drove pole safely home ahead of stablemate Kimi Räikkönen. A small surprise of the day was the 6th place of young Frenchman Pierre Gasly on Toro Rosso, who left such big teams as Haas, Mc Laren, Renault and Force India behind him and put himself on the remarkable 3rd row of the grid. Keep an eye on Pierre Gasly tomorrow in the race!