Max Verstappen hinted he could be a thorn in the side of Mercedes in Bahrain in final practice, but when it mattered the Silver Arrows came to the fore, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton dominating every segment of qualifying to take a stunning pole position.
The Mercedes driver was pegged to just 0.146s by Verstappen after the first runs in Q3, suggesting there could be a tight battle. But Hamilton improved by another quarter of a second on his final run, pushing pole out of reach of his rivals to take his 98th career P1 start.
His team mate Valtteri Bottas popped up into second, the Finn at a loss to explain why he simply wasn’t a threat to Hamilton throughout the session, but he did at least ensure Mercedes lock out the front row for the fifth consecutive season in Bahrain and 75th time in the team’s history.
Verstappen was forced to settle for third, though he can take comfort from starting on the cleaner side of the grid, the Dutchman suggesting the team’s greater focus in setting the car up was on the race, with tyre degradation expected to be crucial on Sunday evening.
Qualifying
