Hamilton just fourth quickest; Verstappen crashes out; Race underway at 4.10pm on Sunday, build-up from 2.30pm on Sky F1;
Thursday 13 December 2018 12:26, UK
Sebastian Vettel will start the Bahrain GP on pole position at the head of a Ferrari front-row lockout - and eight places ahead of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel, a somewhat fortunate victor in the season-opening Australian GP, edged out Scuderia team-mate Kimi Raikkonen with a late surge which the team hailed as a "lion's lap".
Raikkonen had been the fastest Ferrari driver throughout practice but it was Vettel who produced the goods when it mattered.
"The car came alive," said Vettel. "I think it's surprising for us after Australia to be that competitive."
The German had run wide on his first flying lap for the Q3 shoot-out but made no mistake on his second and final attempt to secure the 51st pole position of his F1 career by just over a tenth of a second from Raikkonen and Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton, who will be hit with a grid penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change, was only fourth quickest.
As a result of his demotion, Hamilton will line up ninth for the race - underway at 4.10pm on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday.
Bahrain GP: How the grid lines up
Daniel Ricciardo, in a Red Bull car which is expected to perform strongly in race conditions, will join Bottas on the second row with Pierre Gasly, the unexpected star of qualifying, promoted to fifth in his Toro Rosso ahead of Hamilton.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen crashed out at the beginning of Q1 and will line up no higher than 15th.
In the second qualifying session of 2018:
* Vettel claimed pole position after edging out Raikkonen on his final flying lap.
* Verstappen spun into the barriers during Q1.
* Bottas was the fastest Mercedes driver but Hamilton will start Sunday's race on a different set of tyres after running an alternative strategy.
* Williams' Lance Stroll was slowest of all with both of the team's cars eliminated at the first hurdle on another miserable weekend for the Grove outfit.
* Neither McLaren car reached the top 10, with Gasly and Esteban Ocon making surprise entries into Q3.
What can Hamilton produce from ninth?
The world champion will start the grand prix on the slower but more durable soft tyres in a bid to outmanoeuvre a Ferrari team which has held a clear single-lap pace advantage this weekend.
"It's not going to be the easiest tomorrow that's for sure," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "I've got the softer tyre so I should be able to go longer. There are a couple of different strategies tomorrow so I will try and eek out every last bit of power and strength from this car."
The concern for both team and driver, however, is that regardless of the gearbox glitch, Mercedes appear to have no answer to Ferrari this weekend.
"The goal was to get P1 today but the Ferraris were just too quick. Valtteri put in a good time at the end but I wasn't able to capitalise on the new tyres at the end," admitted Hamilton.
Difficult day for McLaren as Gasly shines
McLaren had started the week talking about catching the frontrunners. But they ended qualifying trying to explain how and why neither of their cars reached the final segment of qualifying.
"I'm astonished," admitted McLaren chief Eric Boullier. "There is need for a big investigation. We need to find out what is going on."
To add insult to injury both Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso will have to line up for Sunday's race behind the Toro Rosso-Honda of Gasly on what is proving to be an inspired weekend for the young Frenchman.
"The car was fantastic but this is amazing," Gasly told Sky Sports F1. "Now we have to go through the data to understand why the car was this fast."
That's a luxury which continues to elude McLaren and another fallen superpower with Williams sinking to a new low in Bahrain as both Sergey Sirotkin and Stroll were eliminated in Q1.
