As promised, here's the report from the first qualifying session of the season as Max Verstappen stormed to pole position in Bahrain.

Next up is Fernando Alonso, who admits to have been positively surprised by Aston Martin's speed in qualifying.

'I feel great. I didn't expect we would be that competitive to be honest,' the Spaniard says.

'Winter testing was OK but I think we are not in the pace of the leaders. Free practice was competitive but we found also last year that sometimes in free practice we are running in a different engine mode and in qualifying everything is a bit more realistic.'

Asked about his prospects in Saturday's race, the two-time world champion is rather more cautious.

'It's going to be difficult because being so tight everything is going to be a group of cars which obviously will damage the tyres even more when you are in traffic,' he explains.

'So I think it's going to be a question mark for everyone.'

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There were positive signs for Mercedes in qualifying and George Russell for one seems very pleased with what he has seen so far.

The Silver Arrows were way off the pace last season, but the 2024 campaign has begun on a more optimistic note.

'Everyone at the factory have done an amazing job to give Lewis and I a car we feel much happier with and a base we can build upon,' he says.

'Obviously Max is right out there in front, we've still got some catching up to do but when we look at our qualifying performance over the last two years and our race pace, starting P3 in Bahrain is a great place.'

Max Verstappen admits taking pole position for the opening race of the season 'was a little bit unexpected' for Red Bull.

'It was a lot of fun actually, the track had a lot of grip but with the wind over the last few days, it's been quite tricky to get the whole lap together and it was the same in qualifying,' he says.

'In Q1, Q2 you go a bit faster with the track ramping up but to really get everything out of it in Q3 was a little bit difficult.

'I'm very happy to be on pole, to be honest it was a little bit unexpected but in qualifying I think the car came to us and I felt a bit happier with the whole car.

'I said yesterday we need to fine tune a few things on the car to try and get that perfect balance, but with the wind that was not possible, but luckily we went in the right direction and we could really push a bit more with the car.'

Charles Leclerc finished second in qualifying but the Ferrari driver seems pretty pleased with the result overall.

'I'm a bit disappointed, but we did a good qualifying. It's been a tricky weekend so far, we have tried a few things in [practice],' he says.

'Unfortunately, we put two new sets of softs on, so it compromised a little bit, the Q3. But it is quite a good qualifying, a good start of the year. We are in a better place compared to a year ago. Now we have to see the race pace tomorrow. I found the sweet spot in qualifying, but Q1 was a bit tricky.

'All in all, a positive quali. I'm confident we did a step forward, but we have to wait and see by how much of a step forward tomorrow. If there is an opportunity, as always, I will go for it.'

Verstappen may be the clear favourite tomorrow, but the three-time world champion does not expect to have it all his own way.

'I think the race is going to be close as well, we do look good in the race and that’s the most important, but we will see tomorrow I'm confident we can have a strong race,' he says.

And Verstappen gets pole! He puts in a 1:29.179, and Leclerc can't beat it, and he stays in second.

But his team-mate can't get close to him, and Perez finishes in fifth.

Russell does fantastically to take third with just over three tenths slower than Verstappen, while Sainz is in fourth.

Final standings:

1. Verstappen

2. Leclerc

3. Russell

4. Sainz

5. Perez

6. Alonso

7. Norris

8. Piastri

9. Hamilton

10. Hulkenberg

Here he is - your pole-sitter once again for the first race of 2024!

Hulkenberg has had a brilliant qualifying and he'll start tomorrow's race in P10, as he is unable to better Hamilton's time.

Verstappen is still the man to beat out there - can any of them challenge him?