SAKHIR, Bahrain: McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took pole position in Bahrain ahead of his 50th Formula One start with George Russell putting his Mercedes alongside the Australian on the front row for Sunday’s race. Piastri’s championship-leading teammate Lando Norris qualified only sixth, a potentially significant blow in the title battle although closest rival Max Verstappen will start seventh for Red Bull. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc qualified third and Mercedes’ Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli fourth with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly fifth. Piastri, who was also fastest in two out of three practice sessions, lapped the floodlit Sakhir circuit with a best time of one minute 29.841 seconds, 0.168 faster than Russell. The pole was his second of the season and his career. “I’ve felt confident out there pretty much all weekend,” said Piastri, who has a great chance to slash the 13-point championship gap to Norris — who leads Verstappen by just one after three races. “The others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted but I still delivered the laps when it mattered, which was the most important thing at the end.” Russell said he was shocked to finish so close to Piastri after struggling for grip in the afternoon’s final practice. “I think if anybody said we’d have been within half a second of the McLarens we’d have taken it because we would have thought that would have been P3 on the grid.
