The first Qualifying session of the year went underway ahead of the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came on top as the Pole sitter for the first race weekender of the 2022 season. He set a time of 1:30.558 and took the first spot.
Max Verstappen will join him after a close battle and qualified for P2. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez will seal the second row. Lewis Hamilton had a rather disappointing race and only got P5. While teammate George Russell fell to P10.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen also stuck till Q3 and this was the first time a Haas car made it to the last stage of Qualifying since 2018. Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas sealed the top 10 spots in the grid for the race on Sunday.
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Charles Leclerc takes pole position for 2022 Bahrain GP
While Charles Leclerc stole the headlines, Daniel Ricciardo who missed the Pre-season Testing was eliminated during Q1 along with new entrant Nico Hulkenberg who substitutes in for Sebastian Vettel. Teammates Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda and Nicholas Latifi were eliminated in Q1.
Debutant Zhou Guanyu powered himself to the Q2 along with Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon and Mick Schumacher. Lando Norris also got knocked out in Q2 and will be starting P13 for the race.
The Standings for the race weekend are:
| Position | Name of the Driver | Team | Fastest Lap |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.558 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:30.681 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:30.687 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:30.921 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.238 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:31.560 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:31.808 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1:32.195 |
| 9 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:32.216 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:32.338 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Q2 |
| 12 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | Q2 |
| 13 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Q2 |
| 14 | Alex Albon | Williams | Q2 |
| 15 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | Q2 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | Q1 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Aston Martin | Q1 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | Q1 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Q1 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Q1 |
All eyes will be on the race on Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Max Verstappen looks dangerous while Mercedes look vulnerable. The Bahrain Grand Prix is scheduled on Sunday, March 20 at 15:00 hours GMT.
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