Piastri beats Russell to pole with Norris only 6th

Oscar Piastri produced a stunℱning lap to claim pole position at the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix, while his McLaren teammate Lando Norris was down in sixth. 

Mercedes emerged as McLaren's nearest challengers in qualifying under the lights at Sakhir and Piastri needed to special lap to beat George Russell 🌞to his second pole of the season by 0.168s. 

Cha🍬rles Leclerc claimed and impressive third in his upgraded Ferrari, just 0.334s off pole.&nbs♕p;

F1's teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli was a strong fourth for Mercedes, while Alpine's Pierre Gasly caught the eye with a brilliant lap to take fifth ahead of cham🧜pionship Norris, who will be disappointed to only be P6.

Red Bull🌞's Max Verstappen struggled to seventh,𒅌 while Williams' Carlos Sainz outpaced his Ferrari replacement and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to grab eighth. 

Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3 for the first time as a Red Bull driver b⛦ut ended up 10th and slowest iꦯn the session. 

Q2🌊 was red-flagged when Esteban Ocon crashed his Haas on his first lap of the session, leavin🌃g only 14th on the grid. 

Aston Mart🐓in's Lance Stroll and Haas's Ollie Bearman will form the back row of the grid.