Max Verstappen on pole as he bids to end barren run in Bahrain

SAKHIR, Bahrain: Formula One champion Max Verstappen is in the right place to win his first Bahrain Grand Prix by starting from the pole in Sunday’s season-opening race.
The desert track has been barren for Verstappen, who failed to finish three of his first four races there. The two-time reigning champion seemed cursed in Sakhir last year when his Red Bull failed just laps from the end with a steering problem.