Charles Leclerc’s stunning lap in qualifying put Ferrari on pole position for the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was the fastest in Q3 on Saturday. The Monegasque will now start the Bahrain Grand Prix on pole position tomorrow, ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

The highly-anticipated first qualifying session of the season didn’t disappoint. It was Ferrari vs Red Bull for pole position under the lights at the Bahrain international circuit.

Pole Position babyyyyyyyy !
Happy with this, but it is only qualifying, let’s finish the job tomorrow 💪
And so happy to see that after all the hard work of the last two years, we are back in the fight. @scuderiaferrari ❤️ pic.twitter.com/poKAxVE3tY

— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) March 19, 2022

Verstappen initially looked set to take pole position after a 1m 30.757s lap in Q2. However, Leclerc managed to push his Ferrari to the limit in the final segment of qualifying as he set the fastest lap of this year’s qualifying with a 1m 30.558s to snatch the top spot on the timesheet.

Saturday’s pole position was Leclerc’s 10th of his F1 career. He had previously claimed pole position at the Bahrain GP in 2019 but failed to get the win after a gearbox problem. He did finish 3rd that year but will be hoping to keep a hold of that 1st place tomorrow.

However, fans on social media were buzzing after Leclerc’s pole lap this year. ‘Ferrari are back’ was also trending on Twitter.

Fans React to Charles Leclerc taking pole

The Tifosi fans were in full voice after Leclerc’s final qualifying lap on Saturday.

Will be memorable indeed. Unlike #Hamilton if Max tries to push #Leclerc off the track, he will put Max in the wall without a second thought.

— ᴀɴɢɪᴇ (@justngsimply) March 19, 2022

#Ferrari is back, Malaysia 2015 vibes. #Leclerc claimed pole position ahead of #Verstappen at the #BahrainGP 🇧🇭. Verstappen had the upper hand for the first two sectors but Leclerc tipped the scales in the last sector. Leclerc had fantastic traction in T11 and T14.#F1 #CL16 #MV1 pic.twitter.com/nD1oBMCVrI

— ProjectF1 (@_ProjectF1) March 19, 2022

Poleeee poleee poleee Leclerc!!!!! #BahrainGP #Charles Leclerc #F1 pic.twitter.com/YtRmc4DMiR

— Luciano Macedo (@Luktoni) March 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/Jamilelisboa007/status/1505214602480607232

POOOLEEEEEE POSITION 😍 @Charles_Leclerc #Ferrari #CHARLES https://t.co/OQwLkMgV5v

— Flavia (@Flavia57305800) March 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/cynkolspam/status/1505315842455711753

Pole position for Leclerc. Ferrari is back! #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/Rx7WmVlzp6

— Kal-EL Astro (@ArmadaTheGreat) March 20, 2022

It’s 2022. Haas has out-qualified a merc with a driver who’s been outta f1 for over a year.

Also, Ferrari is back. #F12022 #ForzaFerrari https://t.co/09SO7ErHDL

— Rachit S. 🏍📉 (@inSenCite) March 20, 2022

🗣 Ferrari back on top – says Leclerc.#F1 #leclerc #ferrari pic.twitter.com/nZ1INTguBl

— Racecast (@racecasttweets) March 19, 2022

Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz will take third place on the grid with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in fourth. Mercedes struggled with pace as Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and George Russell 9th.

Valtteri Bottas grabbed 6th place in his new Alfa Romeo while Kevin Magnussen impressed on his Haas return with P7. Fernando Alonso took P8 with Pierre Gasly making up the top 10 for tomorrow’s line-up.

Here’s the full grid for the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday:

STARTING GRID

A mouth-watering line-up for Sunday's race 🤤#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/zwZv45lGz7

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2022

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