F1 Bahrain GP: Lewis Hamilton on pole

Bahrain GP 2016 Qualifying results: Lewis Hamilton on pole

Hamilton takes pole as he sets a new track record. He's back on all cylinders with that performance.

Ferrari missed out towards the end, but Vettel started the Australian Grand Prix in third and managed to lead for a significant part of the race, so he won't be particularly disappointed. It was strategy that lost them that race, so if they can improve on it fans could see a competitive race.

The standout performance today has to be from Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, also on supersofts as he qualifies in 5th.

It's an 8th consecutive pole for Mercedes AMG Petronas here today with a blistering lap from Hamilton.

1:29.493 for Lewis Hamilton - and Mercedes take their 4th pole position as a constructor in Bahrain; they're the most successful qualifiers here. Rosberg narrowly misses out on pole 0.077s behind his teammate - that was close and then some! Ferrari have had a similar qualifying result to Melbourne.

Hamilton, on the supersofts, will take pole for the second year in a row.

Daniel Ricciardo finishes qualifying strong - he's in P5, and Lewis Hamilton is now fighting to outpace Kimi Raikkonen for a front row spot in tomorrow's race. Hamilton's middle sector is quick - Kimi's first sector was not good - he'll be unhappy - and also the next one eliminated!

Both Williams now out - P6 for Valtteri Bottas and P7 for teammate Felipe Massa.

Nico Hulkenberg is the first eliminated in Q3; he'll start tomorrow's race in P8.

ROS VET RAI at the moment, with Rosberg in the 1:29s, but Vettel is not at all far behind with 8 minutes to go in final qualifying. He's now in the pit - will he come back out, or will Mercedes rest on his fast time and trust that Ferrari cannot outqualify?

Ferrari have taken a big rush and Vettel and Raikkonen take a lead! Hamilton runs wide here - and Bahrain is known for drivers running wide. Rosberg takes the lead right back - but the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari is now just 0.168 - it was 2 seconds in practice, and was not looking good for Ferrari then.

Green lights for Q3 and cars are back out on track! Williams on a brand new set of supersofts ahead of final qualifying.

Q2 is done! HAM VET ROS RAI make up a Mercedes-Ferrari top 4.

Problems for Felipe Massa - he says "some bodywork is loose." Massa was in P7, with teamate Valtteri Bottas up ahead in P5.

Both Haas F1 drivers are also now out, with Romain Grosjean qualifying in P9.

Verstappen qualified in 5th in Australia, so he'll be a bit disappointed, but it's an even contest between the two Toro Rosso drivers and a fair showing for both youngsters.

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are both out - Sainz qualifying in 11th, Verstappen just ahead of him in 10th.

So far, both Renault drivers are out, as are both McLarens. Nico Hulkenberg was on the verge of being the next casualty but has made an excellent effort to go 8th and saves himself. Close call for Force India!

And Jenson Button follows. After going P9 in Q1, he's unable to hold on. He has been outqualified by rookie teammate Stoffel Vandoorne today, with Vandoorne in 12th and looking to follow Haas F1's Esteban Gutierrez in elimination.

And Daniil Kvyat is the first one eliminated in Q2 - soon to be followed by Jenson Button.

Analysis reports nearly a second of time between softs and supersofts; teams will want to be careful.

1 2 3 GO GO GO! Q2 is underway as Kimi Raikkonen falters slightly getting onto track; he didn't engage gears properly.

Impressive from Daniel Ricciardo, who's gone to P3 at the end of Q1.

Some teams have picked two sets of the supersofts, and some only one - Ferrari are among the single setters.

One surprise in the bottom 5, with the experienced Sergio Perez of Force India knocked out too. McLaren, however, will be happy; newbie Stoffel Vandoorne is through to Q2, and Jenson Button has finished Q1 in 9th - higher than McLaren have found themselves in qualifying for a long time.

It's not a good showing for Renault, with Jolyon Palmer eliminated in Q1, as is his teammate Kevin Magnussen.

We're done with Q1! So far, it's Felipe Nasr of Sauber first to be eliminated, with Manor newbie Rio Haryanto following soon after.