Bahrain Grand Prix Virtual Grid Walk: Piastri for the F1 title?

Piastri fended off the challenge of George Russell in the Mercedes to take his second Formula 1 career pole but will be looking out in his mirrors for the Red Ferrari of Charles Leclerc as Russell was demoted to third after Mercedes' pitlane mishap in Q2.

Leclerc has won around the Sakhir International track before and will be looking for a repeat, but will the upgraded SF-25 be a good race car? It was better in qualifying.

On the second row, Russell will be looking to bounce back after the penalty and will have an eager Pierre Gasly starting alongside him, the Frenchman doing a superb job in the Alpine to qualify fifth but then inheriting fourth from Kimi Antonelli, who was slapped with the same penalty as Russell.

Antonelli has been getting better and better since the start of the season, and today's race will mark his best grid-starting position, but the youngster will be surrounded by sharks as Norris shared the row with him while Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are just behind.

Norris, clueless after qualifying, will be looking ahead after the lows of qualifying, and Verstappen, well, the Dutchman will be doing what he usually does, wringing the neck of his RB21 to maximize his points tally.

As for Sainz, he appears to have finally redeemed himself, making Q3 and, more importantly, beating his teammate Alex Albon. A points finish should be the target for the Spaniard.

Lewis Hamilton comes next, starting from ninth after a disappointing qualifying where he was never comfortable in his SF-25. What can the Briton deliver?

Yuki Tsunoda suffered from the RB21 all weekend in Bahrain, and while he made Q3, he was way off Verstappen's pace, but a solid race for him will deliver a confidence boost he really needs.

On row six we have an overachiever and an underachiever. Jack Doohan starts 11th, a great performance from the under-pressure rookie who painfully missed out on Q3, while Isack Hadjar will be having a bee in his bonnet after failing to make the top ten.

Starting from 13th on the grid, Fernando Alonso will be hoping his steering wheel stays fixed for the race rather than having a fast car, as this seems far-fetched now. He shares the row with former Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon, who crashed out in Q2 but was classified 14th. The run into Turn 1 will be interesting between these two, who probably do not exchange Christmas cards.

Albon, on the other hand, finds himself in unfamiliar territory after his early-season heroics. The timing Williams sent him out on track for the final runs of Q1 put him on the back foot, and another FIA fiasco made matters more frustrating.

After 45 minutes from the end of Q1, the stewards deleted the lap of Nico Hülkenberg for exceeding track limits. That was after the German demoted Albon to 16th, which meant the Williams driver could not gun for a better starting position having not taken part in Q2. Albon should be a man on a mission.

Liam Lawson suffered a DRS problem in Q1 and will start 17th, and he will have a point to prove as the guy who replaced him at Red Bull made Q3. He starts alongside Gabriel Bortoleto.

Lance Stroll is down in 20th while another underachiever, Oliver Bearman, starts from 20th.

The tyre degradation will be high during the race, and a two-stopper will be the favored strategy. Can anyone play around and try to make positions? An undercut will powerful on Sunday.

Unlike Suzuka, overtaking should be in abundance especially as the Sakhir track has not one, but three DRS zones.

If Piastri wins, he may become McLaren's number one contender for the title. Depending on where Norris and Verstappen finish, of course? Will the Woking squad decide to back one driver then?