Izuchukwu OkosiRed Bull racer Max Verstappen on Friday evening finished in first place in the qualifying session of the 2024 season ahead of close challengers, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Mercedes’s George Russell in that odder as drivers and teams regroup for the opening round of the 2024 campaign on Saturday.
Verstappen produced a time of 1m 29.421s with his first Q3 run and worked his way down to a 1m 29.179s during the second runs to finish two-tenths clear of Leclerc, with Russell a tenth further back in third position.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz came a distant fourth as he made it two Ferraris while Sergio Perez, the other Red Bull driver on the race, failed to replicate same blistering performance as Verstappen.
Fernando Alonso ended up in sixth place beating the duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in seventh and eighth place.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton came a disappointing ninth and the top 10 places were completed by Hass’ Nico Hulkenberg who have had to oversee some managerial changes of late.
The 2024 international circuit begins in Bahrain on Saturday evening.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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