SAKHIR, Bahrain — Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix during Saturday’s qualifying session at the Bahrain Int’l Circuit, recording a fast lap of 1 minute, 29.897 seconds.
The defending Formula 1 world champion edged out teammate Sergio Perez for the top spot, earning his 21st career pole award.
“It was a tough start to the weekend, but we put the best pieces together today to be on pole. I was surprised to be on pole and I am looking forward to tomorrow,” Verstappen noted.
Perez finished .138 seconds behind Verstappen with a 1:29.846-second lap time.
Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start from the second row in Sunday’s Grand Prix, as they qualified third and fourth respectively. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who was the fastest in practice on Friday, qualified fifth.
Williams Mercedes’ Logan Sargeant, the first American driver to contest a full-time F1 schedule in five years, ended the qualifying session in 16th.