Bahrain Qualifying: Hamilton pips Rosberg as Ferrari falter

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton delivered a superb lap when it really mattered to claim pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix,and turned what was at one point fourth on the grid into a top spot start for a race he has won twice before.

Although the final stages of Q3 could be described as exciting, as a whole this new musical chairs format is a complete failure and a huge anti-climax to what was once upon a time one of the greatest spectacles in sport - Formula 1 qualifying. Surely the sorry experiment cannot carry on beyond this weekend. A story for another time...

Back on track, Hamilton's best time of 1:29.493 was a lap record and helped him bag his 51st career pole position. It was special because on his first attempt was blotched by an error which saw him run wide on the final turn, and with a second row start looming, the pressure was on for his final stab which in the end was faultless.

Hamilton said afterwards, "It’s not been a smooth sailing weekend in terms of pace. I was generally struggling to put laps together and luckily the lap I did put together was the last one. The car felt great. It’s incredible to think we are quicker than the V10 days. It shows how far the technology has come."

Teammate Nico Rosberg was second best as the two Mercedes drivers crushed their rivals, the best of which were perhaps more in touch than the final result showed. Whatever the case it will be an all silver front row for the umpteenth time.

Rosberg gave his teammate due credit, but nevertheless was upbeat about his chances in the race, "My lap felt good and I was sure I was on pole. Lewis put in an incredible lap to beat me. This track is where pole counts least I think. There are still a lot of opportunities."

Ferrari challenge which began brewing earlier in the day when their drivers ended the session 1-2, but on the night they simply had no answer for the world champions with both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen not delivering on their final laps.

In the end the records will show that the Reds were half a second down on Hamilton's top time. Vettel was third and Raikkonen fourth.

Vettel reflected, "I was very happy with the first attempt. The second attempt was more or less copy and paste, but that’s not enough if they improve by five tenths. There isn’t one place on the track where the car doesn't feel right. Step by step we’re getting there. We know what to do, so we’ll see. It’s a long race and let’s see what happens."

While Q3, the shoot-out for pole, provided greater entertainment than the season opener in Melbourne, the grid was already determined with three minutes of the session remaining making the new countdown clock somewhat irrelevant. It seems unlikely that the sport can continue with this seemingly-doomed format for much longer.

Q2 - the second of the three timed sessions - started in rather farcical fashion after the light at the end of the pit lane signalling drivers to go on to the circuit was jammed on red. A marshal vigorously waved a green flag to indicate to a rather confused Raikkonen that the 14-minute session had begun.

Jenson Button was rippling with confidence on Friday night after he posted the third-fastest time in practice. The 2009 world champion believed a top-eight grid slot was on the cards, but he could manage only 14th.

And to make matters worse, Stoffel Vandoorne, the Belgian who is making his debut here in place of the injured Fernando Alonso, will start ahead of him. Vandoorne, who could be handed a full-time seat instead of the out-of-contract Button for 2017, was one tenth faster than his team-mate and will start from 12th.

But that was about as entertaining as Q2 got. The camera panned to Max Verstappen, who was next to be "eliminated", but instead of being on track, the 18-year-old had his crash helmet off and was collecting his weight receipt in the pit lane. This is not what the sport's powerbrokers had in mind when they wanted to make qualifying more unpredictable.

Earlier, Pascal Wehrlein, the highly-rated German was the star performer of the opening phase after he qualified an impressive 16th - just on the bubble of making it through to Q2.

Sauber's Felipe Nasr was the first driver to fall, while Jolyon Palmer soon followed. The Briton, who impressed on his debut in Melbourne, will start from the penultimate row of the grid in 19th.

His Renault team-mate Kevin Magnussen qualified ahead, but will be demoted to the pit-lane after he failed to stop for a mandatory weigh-in during practice.

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Q1 107% time - 1:37.717

Note - Magnussen will start the race from the pit lane as penalty for failing to stop for a mandatory weight check during FP2.