Summary

  • Verstappen beats Hamilton to Bahrain pole, Bottas 3rd

  • Perez out in Q2, Vettel out in Q1, Verstappen fastest in final practice

  • Get involved #bbcf1

Live Reporting

Michael Emons

  1. Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

    What happened to Carlos Saniz? He managed to get going again, which suggests it was a spin - and he's just scraped through!

  2. Out - Mazepin and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

    A disaster for Vettel in his first outing for Aston Martin.

    Ocon and Vettel must have been caught up in those yellow flags. Both fail to make it to Q2.

  3. Out - Schumacher, Latifi, Ocon.

  4. Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

    I wonder if Sebastian Vettel was caught up in one of those yellow flags?

  5. Sainz in trouble of a horror qualifying on his Ferrari debut.

  6. Russell has improved. Will it be enough.

    A couple of yellow flags - first one for another Mazepin spin. Then Carlos Sainz.

  7. Get Involved

    #bbcf1

    Formulagamer: Tsunoda world champ I'm calling it here first.

    TsunodaReuters

  8. Fernando Alonso is 12th, Sebastian Vettel 13th and Kimi Raikkonen 14th.

  9. George Russell always out-qualifies his Williams team-mate, but has work to do to maintain that record.

  10. 'A gap is emerging'

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

    A gap has emerged in the top six. We were waiting for Mercedes and the Red Bull just to sneak away from the midfield - which we've not really seen yet, and now there is a four tenths gap between Valtteri Bottas in sixth and Carlos Sainz in seventh.

    The Alpha Tauris are pumped in. They have put in astonishing lap times.

  11. How they stand (six minutes to go)

    Top 10 at the moment

    1. Verstappen
    2. Tsunoda
    3. Hamilton
    4. Gasly
    5. Perez
    6. Bottas
    7. Sainz
    8. Ricciardo
    9. Leclerc
    10. Norris

    Bottom five at the moment

    • 16. Ocon
    • 17. Latifi
    • 18. Russell
    • 19. Mazepin
    • 20. Schumacher

  12. 'A race at the front'

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

    Once again we have a race at the front! The Perez-Bottas dynamic is half a second away.

  13. Max Verstappen, as he has done all weekend, is having his time at the top with a 1:30.499.

    What a cracking first lap in qualifying from Yuki Tsunoda, he is second in the Alpha Tauri and ahead of both Mercedes. Pierre Gasly fourth. The stuff of dreams for Alpha Tauri.

    Red Bulls and Alpha Tauris take out four of the top five with six minutes of Q1 to go.

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  15. Valtteri Bottas leaps to the top, but only until Hamilton crosses the line with a 1:30.617.

    Verstappen went better than that in the third session as a comparison with a 1:30.577.

  16. Lando Norris goes two seconds faster than Mick Schumacher, but the McLaren man is then beaten by both Ferraris.

  17. Rotten for Haas

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

    The Haas team in general are having a pretty rotten time this weekend.

  18. Mick Schumacher the first to set a time with a 1:33.861. Only Nicholas Latifi went slower than that in the third session.

  19. Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

    Nikita Mazepin... three spins so far this weekend! Another over-spin moment.

  20. Never write off Hamilton in qualifying!