Hamilton fended off the challenge of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for his 10th pole of the season.
In the top-10 shootout, Hamilton set the bar at 1m27.677s, 0.146s faster than Verstappen, with Bottas a tenth further back. On his second run Hamilton lowered that to 1m27.264s, with Bottas jumping up to second, 0.289s off Lewis, and Verstappen falling short of breaking the Mercedes front-row lockout by just over a tenth.
The second Red Bull of Alex Albon qualified fourth, bouncing back from his big crash yesterday, ahead of Sergio Perez (Racing Point), the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lando Norris (McLaren) and Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri).
In Qualifying 2, there was an early red flag due to Carlos Sainz suffering a brake issue at Turn 1 that caused him to spin to a halt and exit the session. Hamilton set the pace at 1m27.586s, four tenths clear of Verstappen and Bottas.
Knocked out at this point were the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and last year’s pole sitter Charles Leclerc, Turkey poleman Lance Stroll, George Russell (Williams) and the luckless Sainz.
In Qualifying 1, Hamilton set the fastest time at 1m28.343s, four tenths clear of Bottas, with Verstappen a further tenth back.
Falling at the first hurdle were the Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen, Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, and Nicholas Latifi’s Williams.
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying grid results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Time | Gap | km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 1'27.264 | 223.267 | ||
| 2 |  Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 1'27.553 | 0.289 | 222.530 | |
| 3 |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda | 1'27.678 | 0.414 | 222.213 | |
| 4 |  Alex Albon | Red Bull | Honda | 1'28.274 | 1.010 | 220.712 | |
| 5 |  Sergio Perez | Racing Point | Mercedes | 1'28.322 | 1.058 | 220.592 | |
| 6 |  Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | Renault | 1'28.417 | 1.153 | 220.355 | |
| 7 |  Esteban Ocon | Renault | Renault | 1'28.419 | 1.155 | 220.350 | |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | Honda | 1'28.448 | 1.184 | 220.278 | |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Renault | 1'28.542 | 1.278 | 220.044 | |
| 10 |  Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | Honda | 1'28.618 | 1.354 | 219.856 | |
| 11 |  Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 1'29.149 | 1.885 | 218.546 | |
| 12 |  Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | 1'29.165 | 1.901 | 218.507 | |
| 13 |  Lance Stroll | Racing Point | Mercedes | 1'29.557 | 2.293 | 217.550 | |
| 14 | George Russell | Williams | Mercedes | 1'31.218 | 3.954 | 213.589 | |
| 15 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren | Renault | ||||
| 16 |  Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 1'29.491 | 2.227 | 217.711 | |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 1'29.810 | 2.546 | 216.937 | |
| 18 |  Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 1'30.111 | 2.847 | 216.213 | |
| 19 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 1'30.138 | 2.874 | 216.148 | |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Mercedes | 1'30.182 | 2.918 | 216.043 | |
| View full results | |||||||
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying Q3 results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 6 | 1'27.264 | 223.267 | |||
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 6 | 1'27.553 | 0.289 | 0.289 | 222.530 | |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda | 6 | 1'27.678 | 0.414 | 0.125 | 222.213 | |
| 4 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | Honda | 6 | 1'28.274 | 1.010 | 0.596 | 220.712 | |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | Mercedes | 6 | 1'28.322 | 1.058 | 0.048 | 220.592 | |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | Renault | 6 | 1'28.417 | 1.153 | 0.095 | 220.355 | |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | Renault | 6 | 1'28.419 | 1.155 | 0.002 | 220.350 | |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | Honda | 6 | 1'28.448 | 1.184 | 0.029 | 220.278 | |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Renault | 6 | 1'28.542 | 1.278 | 0.094 | 220.044 | |
| 10 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | Honda | 6 | 1'28.618 | 1.354 | 0.076 | 219.856 | |
| View full results | |||||||||
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying Q2 results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 5 | 1'27.586 | 222.446 | |||
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda | 4 | 1'28.025 | 0.439 | 0.439 | 221.337 | |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 5 | 1'28.063 | 0.477 | 0.038 | 221.241 | |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | Renault | 5 | 1'28.648 | 1.062 | 0.585 | 219.781 | |
| 5 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | Honda | 6 | 1'28.749 | 1.163 | 0.101 | 219.531 | |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Renault | 6 | 1'28.877 | 1.291 | 0.128 | 219.215 | |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | Mercedes | 8 | 1'28.894 | 1.308 | 0.017 | 219.173 | |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | Renault | 5 | 1'28.937 | 1.351 | 0.043 | 219.067 | |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | Honda | 5 | 1'28.944 | 1.358 | 0.007 | 219.050 | |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | Honda | 5 | 1'29.008 | 1.422 | 0.064 | 218.892 | |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 5 | 1'29.149 | 1.563 | 0.141 | 218.546 | |
| 12 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | 5 | 1'29.165 | 1.579 | 0.016 | 218.507 | |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | Mercedes | 5 | 1'29.557 | 1.971 | 0.392 | 217.550 | |
| 14 | George Russell | Williams | Mercedes | 3 | 1'31.218 | 3.632 | 1.661 | 213.589 | |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren | Renault | 2 | |||||
| View full results | |||||||||
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying Q1 results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 5 | 1'28.343 | 220.540 | |||
| 2 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | Mercedes | 6 | 1'28.679 | 0.336 | 0.336 | 219.704 | |
| 3 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | Honda | 6 | 1'28.732 | 0.389 | 0.053 | 219.573 | |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 5 | 1'28.767 | 0.424 | 0.035 | 219.486 | |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda | 5 | 1'28.885 | 0.542 | 0.118 | 219.195 | |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | Honda | 3 | 1'28.971 | 0.628 | 0.086 | 218.983 | |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren | Renault | 3 | 1'28.975 | 0.632 | 0.004 | 218.973 | |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | Renault | 6 | 1'29.005 | 0.662 | 0.030 | 218.900 | |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | 6 | 1'29.137 | 0.794 | 0.132 | 218.575 | |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 6 | 1'29.142 | 0.799 | 0.005 | 218.563 | |
| 11 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | Honda | 6 | 1'29.158 | 0.815 | 0.016 | 218.524 | |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | Mercedes | 6 | 1'29.178 | 0.835 | 0.020 | 218.475 | |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | Renault | 3 | 1'29.203 | 0.860 | 0.025 | 218.414 | |
| 14 | George Russell | Williams | Mercedes | 8 | 1'29.294 | 0.951 | 0.091 | 218.191 | |
| 15 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Renault | 5 | 1'29.464 | 1.121 | 0.170 | 217.776 | |
| 16 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 6 | 1'29.491 | 1.148 | 0.027 | 217.711 | |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 6 | 1'29.810 | 1.467 | 0.319 | 216.937 | |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 6 | 1'30.111 | 1.768 | 0.301 | 216.213 | |
| 19 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 6 | 1'30.138 | 1.795 | 0.027 | 216.148 | |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Mercedes | 6 | 1'30.182 | 1.839 | 0.044 | 216.043 | |
| View full results | |||||||||