Red Bull’s Verstappen claims pole position

Max Verstappen after claiming pole position at the Bahrain GP in Sakhir on Friday. Pic/AFP

Max Verstappen delivered some much-needed relief for his Red Bull team on Friday when he resisted Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to claim pole position for Saturday's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

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The defending three-time world champion picked up where he left off last year by topping the times in a closely-contested qualifying session at the Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir.

His success, which he admitted was "a little bit unexpected" arrived after another day of speculation and pressure for team boss Christian Horner, following the anonymous leaking of a cache of alleged private messages and photographs between him and a female member of the team. Verstappen clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 29.179 seconds to beat Leclerc by 0.228 seconds, securing his third Bahrain pole and the 33rd of his career.

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