Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff praised Honda after the Japanese firm’s engines propelled Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix which opens the season today.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified second and Valtteri Bottas third, well beaten by Max Verstappen in the Honda-powered Red Bull. Three tenths of the gap between the best time of the night.
It was the first time in the turbo hybrid V6 era that started in 2014 that Mercedes had failed to secure pole for the first race of the season which also ended their streak of lead starts at Sakhir who dated back to 2014.
The result of qualifying on the site this year foreshadows a much closer championship between the two best Formula 1 teams this year.
“Honda did a great job, they delivered an extremely competitive powertrain – look at where AlphaTauri is,” Wolff said. “And we just have to take it as athletes. It’s like that. Suffice it to say, they did a really good job, period. “
Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri qualified fifth.
Honda is leaving Formula 1 at the end of the year but has gone all out with a brand new engine for its final season.
The Honda engine will be taken over by Red Bull next year, when an engine “freeze” kicks in, through their own powertrain company.
“I am not at all surprised. I think Honda is a very proud company and I was convinced that they would give them all the horsepower needed to have a great power unit in the last year as a factory team, ”Wolff said of the performance.
“I don’t think they left anything out, no unused resources to complete the job properly. So this is a good motivation for us. And I’m happy for them.
Mercedes have won the last seven drivers ‘and constructors’ titles while Honda made a nightmarish comeback to sports with McLaren in 2015-17, but fixed their battered image with Red Bull.
(Report by Alan Baldwin)
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