Norris and Verstappen suffer as Piastri stuns under the Bahrain lights

Oscar Piastri soared to pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, beating George Russell by one-and-a-half tenths of a second under the lights in Sakhir.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three, with Kimi Antonelli and Pierre Gasly completing the top five.

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda all reached the final section of qualifying at the Bahrain International Circuit and will line up for the grand prix in that order.

Esteban Ocon caused a brief interruption to the session with a red flag after crashing his Haas at the start of Q2. He will line up P15.

There was confusion during Q3, when it became apparent Nico Hulkenberg committed a track limits violation in Q1 and should have been eliminated instead of Alex Albon, who was robbed of the chance to take part in the second part of the session.

Check out the full qualifying report for the Bahrain Grand Prix below.

Q3

The start of Q3 saw a mix of runners put in backer push laps on used and brand new soft compound tyres, headlined by Piastri, who went into provisional pole.

Russell separated the two McLaren's with a strong effort, ahead of the Ferraris and Mercedes team-mate Antonelli.

Further back, Tsunoda bettered Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, who made a mistake into the first corner and was four tenths slower than the Japanese driver in tenth. The pair had Gasly and Sainz in between.

The Frenchman pulled out a sensational lap, beating Norris and Verstappen. The Mercedes pair found form when it mattered to take positions on the front two rows, with Leclerc in third and Piastri on pole.

Q2

Ocon brought the red flag out only a few minutes into the second part of qualifying following a high-speed crash after getting beached on the kerb on the exit of Turn 2.

The Frenchman was sent careering into the barriers near to where former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin did only a couple of corners into his F1 debut in 2021 and opposite to Romain Grosjean's scary, fiery accident for the American team at the end of the previous season.

It froze the session clock at 11:01 remaining, with no lap times on the timing board. A number of cars, including both Mercedes, were already on push laps, thus compromising a set of tyres.

When the session resumed, McLaren continued their comfortable control of proceedings, with Piastri going fastest from Norris.

Verstappen had been on what appeared to be a strong first push lap, but filtered into the pits before setting a time. The Dutchman joined a host of drivers who opted not to set a banker lap, including Hamilton and Tsunoda.

Piastri did not need to set a second lap, whilst Gasly pulled out a stunning effort to go third fastest behind the papaya pair.

Tsunoda just made it through to Q3 in P10, just behind Verstappen and at the expense of Jack Doohan, who qualified P11. The Australian displaced Isack Hadjar in the final moments, who will line up P12.

The Racing Bulls driver finished the session ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and the stricken Ocon. However, the Stake driver had his lap time deleted and was sent back to P15 after the end of Q2.

Unusually, it transpired that Hulkenberg's track limits violation was for Q1, meaning Albon should have progressed. Retrospectively, the German was put pack to P16, with Albon elevated. That will be no saving grace to the Williams driver, who was denied the opportunity to participate in Q2.

Out in Q2: P15 - Albon (did not run), P14 - Ocon, P13 - Alonso, P12 - Hadjar, P11 - Doohan

Q1

Lance Stroll was the first driver to have a lap time deleted at the Bahrain International Circuit only a handful of minutes into the first section of qualifying, a waste of a set of soft compound tyres.

Verstappen also had a messy start to the session, locking up into the final two corners and ruining his first attempt at a push lap. He headed straight into the pits.

Moments later, Red Bull team-mate Tsunoda had his lap time deleted for track limits at the same sequence of turns. However, it was not an optimal time, going slower than the Alpine of Doohan - something Hamilton and Russell found themselves falling short of as well.

After the first round of push laps, Norris led Piastri atop the timing boards, with Leclerc and Antonelli ahead of Alonso in fifth and Doohan in sixth.

Verstappen pulled a strong lap out the bag at the death to get through with the third-fastest time. In the drop zone, Ollie Bearman never quite got going and will start the Bahrain Grand Prix last, alongside Stroll.

By going out in Q1, the Canadian equalled Kevin Magnussen's record of most exits from the first segment of the grid-setting session with 74.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson, who had a problem with DRS, went out in P18 and P17, respectively.

Alex Albon suffered a rare qualifying disappointment, getting bumped into the elimination places in the final moments by Nico Hulkenberg, who went through in P15.

Out in Q1: P20 - Bearman, P19 - Stroll, P18 - Bortleto, P17 - Lawson, P16 - Hulkenberg (incorrectly advanced to Q2 ahead of Albon)