Brendon Hartley, Toyota Gazoo Racing – No.8 Toyota GR010- HYBRID Hypercar

“We do a lot of free practice with high fuel, a lot of tyres, so to really take the fuel out, put the new tyres on, get the car in the best working condition and to have one opportunity, it's always a massive buzz and the car felt really good. 

“It wasn't an easy day, actually. Seb (Buemi) had a little crash in FP2 which put the mechanics under pressure, and they did a fantastic job to get the car ready just in time for FP3, so a big mention to them. 

“ I feel good to finally get the pole. Honestly, we've been close a few times. I think the time when we were ahead of the sister car, the Alpine was on pole. In Monza I pretty much thought we had it and Jose-Maria (Lopez) found a lap right at the end, and Le Mans was incredibly close with me and Kamui (Kobayashi). 

“So, it feels good to get that one point as we are still fighting for the championship. And that point might become crucial.”

Kevin Estre, Porsche GT Team – #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 LMGTE Pro

“I'm really happy to get this pole but it was a big work to achieve this lap. Then there were some small mistakes here and there as it's always the case in the quali laps especially on a tough track like Bahrain. 

“Gimmi (Bruni) was very close three hundredths of a second in a two-minute lap is very little. 

“So, I'm very happy to have done this and get pole and get this extra point which is very important for us as we are P2 in the points in the manufacture and driver championships. 

“We showed that we are strong in quali the whole year but this one especially is nice, because we're coming down to the end of the chairmanship, and every point is important.”

Tom Blomqvist, JOTA – #28 JOTA Oreca-Gibson LMP2

I’ve got to thank the team and give huge credit for them. You know, we rolled the car out of the truck, and we had a good car. But it wasn't amazing, and we made some really good tweaks overnight. That kind of transformed our car for today. 

“I've been super confident, super happy with it all day long. I was quite confident going into quali and on my first run it was good. The second run I pushed a little bit too hard, and I cocked up the first sector. But nonetheless, it was thankfully just enough to keep the pole position. 

“But the number 22 (United Autosports USA entry) did a pretty massive comeback in that session. We can't rule anyone else out, obviously, tomorrow is what counts. It's going to be a tough, tough race.”

Rino Mastronardi, Iron Lynx – #60 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo LMGTE Am

“Obviously, it's been great for me, the car for me was super. Unfortunately, the only problem was that the first lap was cancelled because of track limits. But then I was able to put together an even better lap, the next one and I was not expecting that time.

“I would like to dedicate this position to Claudio (Schiavone) who for sure has been at home watching the quali and now we hope Claudio will get better soon. We want him back in the car maybe for next week.”