Formula 1: Charles Leclerc Takes Pole Position in Bahrain, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Round Off the Top 3

• The new Formula 1 season got off to a flying start as Ferrari impressed and took pole position in Bahrain
• Charles Leclerc will start ahead of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull and Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari
• McLaren and Mercedes both had days to forget and will be hoping to have a better time during the main race

The first qualifying session of the new Formula 1 season has thrown up some surprises as Charles Leclerc took pole position for Ferrari.

The Ferrari’s looked dominant through the three sessions of qualifying and secured positions one and three once all was said and done.

Leclerc took pole with a time of 1m30.558s with Max Verstappen second in his Red Bull. Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari took third place ahead of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull.

Mercedes’ troubles continued as Lewis Hamilton could only secure fifth place while George Russell was back in a distant ninth place.

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Valteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo finished sixth, not far behind his former teammate Hamilton.

WATCH: Charles Leclerc's quick lap to take pole position

In the seventh spot was Kevin Magnussen in the Haas, in what is probably the biggest shock of the season. Magnussen returned to Formula 1, replacing Nikita Mazepin at Haas. While Haas were confident of a better showing this season, none could have predicted just how well they did. Fernando Alonso took eight spot ahead of Russell, with Pierre Gasly rounding off the top 10.

Another surprise was the poor showing of the McLaren team. McLaren were the surprise package of last season, punching well above their weight, but struggled today. Lando Norris finished 13th while Daniel Ricciardo could only take 18th spot, ahead of Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi.

South Africa's Shau Mafuna hired by Mercedes' Formula 1 team, gets approval from Lewis Hamilton

In other Formula 1 news, South Africa's Shau Mafuna will fly the flag high for Mzansi when he serves as a mechanical engineer for the Mercedes Formula 1 team in the 2022 season, Sports Brief earlier reported.

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Mafuna has dual Belgian and South African citizenship and has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Wits University as well as a Master's Degree in Motorsport Engineering from Oxford Brookes University.

Mafuna was hired for the post after working at the Mercedes' Work Experience Academy (WEA) programme Sportskeeda reported. The WEA programme encouraged youngsters from diverse backgrounds to get into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths fields.