04/03/2023
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's qualifying session the air temperature is 25 degrees C, while the track temperature is 30 degrees.
The big question, of course, is can he do it?
And by he we mean Fernando Alonso, and can he claim pole for tomorrow's Grand Prix.
Right up until this morning there was doubt, with talk of Red Bull, Ferrari and even Mercedes sandbagging, while doubts over Aston Martin's true pace continued. But then, as the pair lapped, almost together, the Spanish two-time champion out-paced the Dutch two-time champion by 0.005s.
Even Drive to Survive's best scriptwriters wouldn't have dared come up with that one, nor, dare we say it, Turk Thrust, for this was pure Hollywood.
Now, ll that remains is to see whether the Spanish Samurai can do it when it really matters.
Being held under floodlights, conditions are entirely different, but then again Alonso was quickest yesterday evening also.
Though we remain unconvinced that we've seen the best of the Red Bull, the Mercedes was better than expected and the Ferrari somewhat disappointing.
That said, the top 13 were covered by less than a second.
As for the midfield it is as unpredictable as ever, with only Alpine making a significant improvement earlier. Indeed, only Williams and AlphaTauri - last year's back markers - appear not to be making progress.
Ahead of the green light, the AlphaTauris of Tsunoda and de Vries are waiting at the end of the pitlane. They are subsequently joined by the Ferraris. The Maranello pair are on mediums and the Alphas on softs, ass is Hulkenberg who heads out next.
Leclerc's wrecks his lap as early as the first corner after locking-up. Understandably, he aborts the lap.
Replay shows a piece of carbonfibre flying off the car on the straight ahead of the lock-up.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda posts a 32.132 and de Vries a 32.849, while Sainz splits them with a 32.408, the Spaniard having a very scrappy lap.
The session is red-flagged which is bad news for the likes of Hulkenberg who was on a flying lap. The stoppage was to allow the retrieval of the piece of bodywork that fell from the Ferrari.
The Bulls and the McLarens were on out-laps when the session was stopped.
The session resumes with 13:23 remaining.
Meanwhile, mechanics are working frantically on Leclerc's car, his car having lost part of its (right) wheel brow, which is feared to have caused possible damage to the floor.
The session resumes and Albon leads the eager beavers keen to get back to work, these include Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen and Hulkenberg.
Meanwhile, Sainz has his time deleted for exceeding the track limits at Turn 8.
With 11:25 remaining, all 20 drivers are on track.
As one would expect it is fast and frantic.
Albon goes quickest (32.094) but is demoted by Zhou, Bottas and Magnussen.
Stroll posts a 31.617 to go top, but Verstappen responds with a 31.295.
Alonso goes quickest in the final two sectors, crossing the line at a mighty 31.158.
However, Leclerc responds with a 31.094 only for Russell to posts a 31.057 and Sainz a 30.993.
Phew!
As Stroll has his time deleted after running wide at Turn 13, Perez goes sixth with a 31.479.
After the first wave, it's: Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, Alonso, Verstappen, Perez and Hamilton.
Ocon is eighth, ahead of Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas and Magnussen.
With just over 6 minutes remaining, both McLarens are in the drop zone, along with the Sargeant, Hulkenberg and Stroll, with Gasly, de Vries and Albon hovering.
Albon is first out for the final assault, while Sainz is already out of his car such is his confidence.
More and more drivers head out, among them Leclerc, Alonso and the Mercedes pair.
Indeed, all are out bar Sainz.
As Albon improves to sixth (31.461) there is a massive traffic jam building at the final corner.
Stroll goes fifth with a 31.184.
Bottas goes tenth and Norris 13th, while Tsunoda goes seventh.
Piastri goes seventeenth, as Hulkenberg posts a 31.204 to go sixth.
Sargeant improves to 16th, with exactly the same time as Norris, however the Briton posted the time first and therefore makes the cut.
"I can't remember the last time the grid was covered by one second," says Zak Brown, "I think F1 is in store for a pretty exciting season."
Quickest is Sainz, ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Alonso, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Tsunoda, Albon and Perez.
We lose Sargeant, Magnussen, Piastri, de Vries and Gasly who had his time deleted.
Q2 gets underway, but as is often the case there is no mad rush to work.
With 12:10 remaining, Hulkenberg heads out, followed by Ocon, Stroll, Zhou, Bottas, Alonso, Norris and a whole heap of others.
Having made his way to the front of the pack, Stroll is the first to start a flying lap.
The Canadian crosses the line at 32.305 as Alonso, Russell and Verstappen trade fastest sectors.
Hulkenberg posts a 31.932 but is demoted by Alonso (31.094), then Russell (31.086), then Hamilton (30.901), then Verstappen (30.503).
Perez goes second (30.746), while Sainz goes sixth (31.463) and Leclerc seventh (31.699). However, the Bulls are on fresh rubber and the Ferraris on old.
Opting for a one run strategy, Albon heads out.
With 5:50 remaining, he is in the drop zone along with Zhou, Stroll, Ocon and Tsunoda, with Norris, Bottas and Hulkenberg hovering.
Stroll has missed the weighbridge and is being pushed back up the pitlane.
Having made a mistake and run wide, Albon aborts the lap and pits.
At which point Ocon gets the final assault underway.
All are on track bar the Bulls and Albon.
Leclerc goes purple in S1, before Sainz goes quicker.
At the line Hulkenberg goes fourth and Ocon fifth, but both are demoted when Alonso goes second (30.645).
Leclerc goes quickest (30.282), Russell third and Hamilton fourth, as Stroll posts a 31.127 to go tenth.
Quickest is Leclerc, ahead of Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Alonso, Perez, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Stroll.
We lose Norris, Bottas, Zhou, Tsunoda and Albon.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Manama here.
Q3 gets underway and Verstappen leads the way, followed by his teammate, while the Ferraris also head out along with Stroll.
Verstappen is on a very, very hot lap, the world champion stopping the clock at 29.897.
Perez can only manage 30.131.
Leclerc posts a 30.000 and Sainz a 30.361, while Stroll goes fifth with a 31.926.
Cue Alonso, Hulkenberg and the Black Arrows...
Alonso is quickest of the five in the first sector. At the line the Spaniard posts 30.336 to go fourth, while Hulkenberg goes sixth.
As Hulkenberg has his time deleted, Russell goes fifth and Hamilton seventh.
In the Ferrari garage, Leclerc is out of his car, his session clearly over. He doesn't look happy.
As the final assault gets underway, Ocon finally emerges for his one run.
A PB is S1 for Stroll, who is currently eighth. As her maintains the pace in S2, Perez improves in the opening sector.
Stroll remains eighth, as Verstappen goes purple in S2.
Verstappen crosses the line at 29.708, while Perez leapfrogs Leclerc with a 29.846.
Alonso fails to improve and is leapfrogged by Sainz who posts a 30.154.
Verstappen is on pole, ahead of Perez, Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso, Russell, Hamilton, Stroll, Ocon and Hulkenberg.
Norris will start eleventh, ahead of Bottas, Zhou, Tsunoda, Albon, Sargeant, Magnussen, Piastri, de Vries and Gasly.
"No, there was no issue," replies Charles Leclerc when asked if there was a texchnical problem that prevented his final run. "I think we were in the fight for pole which was good.
"In the race run we were a little bit behind Red Bull," he continues, "so starting third on new tyres is better than starting first with old tyres. In the race run we seem to have a bit of a weakness, so having a new tyre will help us."
"It has been really tight qualifying," says Perez, "I don't remember such a tight qualifying battle. You cannot leave anything on the table.
"I wasn't totally comfortable with the balance," he admits, "but to get this start for the team is really special."
"It's been a bit of a tough start to the weekend," adds Verstappen, "I'm not really finding my rhythm.
"I'm very happy to be on pole, having such a strong car with Checo up there as well, it's amazing and I'm looking forward to tomorrow as well."
It's two-by-two for the first two rows, the Bulls and Ferraris, while Alonso ruins the symmetry by out-pacing the Mercedes pair.
What remains to be seen now is how they bear up in terms of race pace, strategy and not getting involved in any silliness.
Not wanting to go down the Sky Sports route, we have to admit that this is a tough one to call, and Red Bull isn't as dominant as expected.
We can't wait.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Manama here.