Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes has pole position for the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, the first pole position of his five-year career. Bottas switched from Williams to Mercedes after the sudden retirement of Nico Rosberg this offseason, but qualified behind both teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the first two races of the season.
Formula 1: Bahrain Grand Prix time, TV channel, and starting grid
The Bahrain Grand Prix is almost here, and a first-time pole sitter will lead off the race on Sunday.
Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images
Hamilton ended up in second and Vettel ended up in third after Saturday’s qualifying session. Sunday’s race can be streamed in its entirety in the United States thanks to NBC Sports Live. The race itself will be broadcast on NBCSN and will get underway at 11 a.m. ET.
Vettel and Hamilton are tied atop the drivers’ standings after they split the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix. The second row is rounded out by Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen occupying the third row.
“We kind of thought if we put everything together there might be a chance of a second row,” said Ricciardo after the surprise finish ahead of Raikkonen. “And yeah, we got it. I don’t know what Kimi’s lap was like but to jump a Ferrari is nice. It’s a good little bit of progress in one week.”
Fernando Alonso of McLaren is the higher profile snub from the top 10, as his car suffered yet another power unit failure after he made it into the second qualifying session. His teammate, Stoffel Vandoorne, didn’t make it out of the first qualifying session.
Alonso still considers himself the best driver in the field saddled with a bad car. He’s going to miss the Monaco Grand Prix to compete in the Indy 500, a move that many view as McLaren struggling to keep their star driver happy amid all the issues. Jenson Button, who retired this offseason, will race for Alonso in Monaco.
Neither did Kevin Magnussen of Haas or Sergio Perez of Force India. Both were expected to, but they had to abort their laps behind Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso. Sainz seemed to suffer some kind of car issue and ruined the session for those two above him.
“We really need to investigate all these problems because we lost a great chance today of a Q3,” Sainz added. “I think the car is the fastest we’ve had since Australia. So a big shame. So tomorrow is time to try and recover.”
The remainder of the top 10 are Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Felipe Massa of Williams, Romain Grosjean of Haas and Jolyon Palmer of Renault.
Below is the full starting grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix and below that is all the information you need to watch it in the United States.
Driver | Team | Best Time |
|---|
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
See More:
