Max Verstappen took pole position for the ‘Bahrain Grand Prix’, which is being staged in Malaysia because of the war in the Middle East.
The four-time world champion had not led the qualifying results since Abu Dhabi last December during a season of trial at Red Bull.
He is out of the title picture so of more importance is the fact that Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli set the fourth fastest time while George Russell was eighth in the other Mercedes.
That is a big blow for Russell, who lies 66 points behind Antonelli with eight rounds remaining, having won in Azerbaijan a week ago.
Lewis Hamilton qualified second for Ferrari, three-tenths off the top with Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar third.
Charles Leclerc was fifth best and Lando Norris sixth, a place ahead of his McLaren pal Oscar Piastri.
Max Verstappen will start the uprooted Bahrain Grand Prix on pole after Saturday’s qualifying
George Russell will start Sunday’s race in eighth, in a damaging blow to his title hopes
On the subject of Norris, Franco Colapinto qualified 15th but will take at least a five-place grid penalty. That is a result of the accident he caused in Azerbaijan a week ago that put both his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and world champion Norris out of the race.
The Brazilian may suffer a further sanction if, as seems likely, he takes on a new engine.
In unexpected news, the two Aston Martins made it out of Q1, a rare occurrence. Their upgrades seemed to have had some rejuvenating effect, as Fernando Alonso qualified 12th and Lance Stroll 14th.
The bottom spots went to the Cadillac pair of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.