F1 qualifying

Formula 1 is set to trial a new tyre allocation qualifying experiment at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in May.

Under the new format, drivers will receive three sets of Hards, four sets of Mediums and four sets of Softs during the weekend. While drivers are currently free to choose which compounds they use in the three segments of qualifying, the new experimental format will force drivers to use Hard tyres in Q1, Mediums in Q2, and the Soft rubber in Q3. In a bid to reduce the large inventory of tyres that Pirelli brings to each Grand Prix, F1 has devised a new format that will be trialed at two venues this season.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be looking to claim the 21st pole position of his career to get his world championship title defence kicked off in style but the ...

Sunday's 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. For viewers planning to live stream F1 in 2023, you can watch via the Sky Go app if you're an existing subscriber or you can purchase For fans in Canada, TSN will carry the English-language telecast of races. Elsewhere, Sling TV will also show the action, as too will FuboTV in the US. For Spanish-language viewers, they can find live broadcasts on ESPN Deportes, though ESPNews and ESPNU will also show some practice and qualifying sessions live throughout the year. 5 minutes to go: Well we're all set here in Sakhir for qualifying for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. Stay tuned for all of the action. 15 minutes to go: Speaking of Alpine, we've just seen a feature on the team from Sky Sports. END OF Q3: Max Verstappen takes pole position for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix!! The Canadian driver was in P7 but his lap time was deleted due to extending track limits. Rookie American Sargeant also just misses out, he put in exactly the same time as Norris in P15 but because the British driver logged his time first, he narrowly proceeds to Q2. It's crunch time for the final ten drivers on track.

Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix during an intense, hotly contested qualifying session under the Sakhir lights ...

Luckily in qualifying, I think we managed to put the best pieces together,” said pole-sitter Verstappen. All three of F1’s rookies dropped out in Q1: Sargeant falling agonisingly short of a Q2 spot in 16th, Piastri placing 18th and De Vries winding up 19th. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Building on his Q2 showing, Verstappen delivered a rapid 1m 29.897s in the early minutes of Q3 to slot ahead of Leclerc, Perez and Sainz – this group all having two sets of soft tyres at their disposal. Red Bull appeared to turn up the wick when the action got back under way for Q2 –Verstappen storming to P1 with a 1m 30.503s on his first flyer, putting him 0.243s clear of team mate Perez and a further chunk clear of the chasing pack. Hulkenberg continued to catch the eye on his F1 comeback with a lap good enough for eighth, as Ocon and Stroll secured the final Q3 spots – the latter earning cheers from the Aston Martin garage for his efforts. When the action resumed, it was Sainz who rose to the top of the timesheets by clocking a 1m 30.993s amid a frantic sequence of laps, with Russell a surprise second, Leclerc up in third and practice pace-setter Alonso fourth – the Red Bulls only P5 and P6. Sargeant still did enough to put his Williams a respectable 16th on the grid, in front of Kevin Magnussen – who could not live with the pace of high-flying team mate Hulkenberg – and fellow 2023 newcomers Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries. Verstappen pumped in a time of 1m 29.897s on his first Q3 run before improving to a 1m 29.708s the next time around, eclipsing Perez by 0.138s and netting a 21st career pole position in the process. Lando Norris missed a Q3 spot by a couple of tenths as McLaren continued to recover from a tricky pre-season, putting his MCL60 11th on the grid, ahead of Alfa Romeo pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin’s charge continued with a strong run to fifth, slotting ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, as Mercedes found themselves unable to join in the fight for pole. Ferrari locked out the second row of the grid, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz despite the Monegasque not completing a second run in the pole position shootout – instead saving a set of tyres for race day.

The grid has been set for the first Formula 1 race of 2023 for the Bahrain Grand Prix - here are the all-important qualifying results from Sakhir.

[Download our F1 calendar](https://racingnews365.com/download-the-2023-f1-calendar-to-your-agenda) [Lewis Hamilton](/formula-1-drivers/lewis-hamilton) only seventh. [Max Verstappen](/formula-1-drivers/max-verstappen) taking pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Featuring pole winner Max Verstappen(Red Bull Racing), second-placed Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) and third-placed Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). Track Interviews ...

Q: Checo, you know, a lot of a lot of the people in that team very well. It’s better if we make sure that all the cars are close to each other and more competitive instead of spicing things up in that way, which I think is probably for the show. MV: Yeah, I mean, after testing I was very happy and then then I jumped in the car in FP1 and it was a big shock. CL: Oh, they’ve shown a very promising race pace in FP2, but again, FP2, it’s very difficult to judge because you don’t know the fuel level they had in the car. I mean, qualifying to race is anyway a different car in terms of how it behaves, but you still want to be quick over one lap and that was a big struggle for me. Because as much as we need to understand the bad days, I think we also need to understand the good days. Or was it more of a surprise that you got the most out of the car given the balance issues you discussed? I think we were in a fight for pole, which was a good surprise, to be honest, because I did not expect that after testing and after the free practices that were a little bit difficult. I think there were sandbagging a bit through the first days of testing and in during the weekend. But I think, as I progress, I was able to learn my way around the balance I had and get a good Q3 lap in the end, but not enough to beat Max. I think in the end, we knew we had to compromise a bit the quali-pace for tomorrow’s race. Do you think the balance will be more suited to the race run for you?

F1 will experiment with qualifying at two races this season but Bahrain GP pole winner Max Verstappen and other drivers see no need for change.

He continued: “It’s the same for everyone but I don’t think we need to actually do these kinds of things in qualifying. Drivers currently have a free choice of tyre throughout qualifying. Max: I don’t think we need to actually do these kinds of things

Formula One (F1) is set to try out a new qualifying format at two races during the 2023 season, with the first instance to be potentially being held at ...

RECOMMENDED However, teams have already pointed to Imola as the potential starting point of the European season. I don't really see the benefit of it. This change will limit each driver's tyre allocation to 11 sets, down from 13, which will reduce the number of tyres that Pirelli has to make and transport. However, some drivers, including double-world champion Max Verstappen, do not see the need for any changes to the current format. It’s the same for everyone but I don't think we need to actually do these kinds of things in qualifying.