Listen to this article In the first competitive session of the new season, the French racer completed a qualifying simulation with 12 minutes of the hour remaining to the head the timing screens. Shod with the red-walled C3 Pirelli on the new 18-inch wheels, Gasly posted a 1m34.193s benchmark to end the daytime running fastest over Charles Leclerc by three tenths. That compares to the Bahrain pre-season test-topping 1m31.720s set by Max Verstappen on the softer and faster C5 tyre, which is not open to selection this weekend. Meanwhile, the Dutch racer also landed pole for the 2021 GP at Sakhir with a 1m28.997s. Leclerc was the first to venture out on track – his Ferrari F1-75 sporting a sizeable aero rake across the rear – and he led a queue in the pitlane ahead of Valtteri Bottas. But as nine of the 20 cars immediately hit the circuit, Bottas was forced to cut short his run in the Alfa Romeo when he reported a misfire and cruised back to the pits. Leclerc used the slowest available C1 tyres to initially set the pace with an unrepresentative 1m45.601s but was immediat …