Alonso bigger F1 Bahrain GP ‘dark horse than Ferrari’

After setting the fastest times in second and third practice, Alonso was in the hunt for pole position in Bahrain but ran early to set his final Q3 lap and duly qualified in fifth.

The Aston Martin driver ran 0.628s adrift of polesitter Max Verstappen to also fall behind Sergio Perez and an all-Ferrari second row. But the two-time champion kept both Mercedes at arms’ length, with Russell clocking sixth ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

However, Russell…