After two races, the Drivers Championship is tied between Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari. But going into the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, it will be Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes sitting on pole after a fantastic qualifying session.
F1 live stream: How to watch Bahrain Grand Prix online
Valtteri Bottas picked up the first pole of his career for the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
For those watching in the United States, this is the first Grand Prix of the season to be on at a reasonable hour, a common issue for stateside fans. The race is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET and will be broadcast by NBCSN. An online stream will also be available beginning at the same time, via NBC Sports Live.
Bottas beat out Hamilton, who was just behind his teammate for the first time this season, and combined with him for a front-row lockout.
“First pole in my career, my fifth season now in Formula One,” Bottas said. “It took a few races but got it and hopefully the first of many.”
Vettel was right behind, though, unable to break the sub 1:29.00 mark but still well ahead of the rest of the field.
Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull prevented a Mercedes/Ferrari lockout of the front two rows by qualifying in fourth. His teammate, Max Verstappen, came in at sixth, behind the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
From there, the remainder of the top 10 was made up of Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Felipe Massa of Williams, Romain Grosjean of Haas, and Jolyon Palmer of Renault.
Grosjean is a bright spot for another disappointing weekend for Haas. They had issues in practice and Kevin Magnussen was forced to abort his qualifying lap, meaning he was out in the first qualifying session.
“Kevin was unlucky in Q1, again, with a double yellow,” said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. “Last week it was Romain’s turn and today it was Kevin’s time, otherwise we were pretty confident he would’ve made it into Q2.”
Sergio Perez of Force India, who has been among the top 10 for much of the season, also was forced to abort his lap in the same place when Carlos Sainz went off the track with a car issue.
The McLaren woes continued as Fernando Alonso put himself into the second qualifying session and then was unable to set a time with yet another power unit failure. Teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was out in the first qualifying session.
Below is all you need to know to watch the Grand Prix online and on television in the United States on Sunday.
How to watch Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix
Date: Sunday, April 16
Location: Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
Time: 11 a.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Online Streaming: NBC Sports Live
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