Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

Summary

Hamilton on pole, Rosberg 2nd, Vettel 3rd, Raikkonen 4th
Kvyat and Button out - Vandoorne ahead of Briton in Q2
Renaults and Perez out in Q1, Wehrlein 16th

Live Reporting

Gary Rose

Postpublished at 15:13 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Image source, AP
Sebastian Vettel looks bemused. His dad looks bemused. Everyone looks bemused! What do you think the Vettels are talking about here?
A caption competition if ever I've seen one so send in your suggestions to #bbcf1, external
Killing timepublished at 15:11 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Postpublished at 15:08 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Image source, Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen set things up nicely for qualifying, which gets under way at 16:00 BST, by securing a Ferrari one-two at the top of the timesheet in final practice.
Vettel led the way with 1:31.683, with Kimi Raikkonen 0.040s slower in P2. Nico Rosberg, in third, was 0.4s off the pace of the Ferrari.
A sign of a closer Ferrari challenge in qualifying? Or does a lack of worried faces in the Mercedes garage suggest there is more to come from the defending world champions?
We shall see.
Postpublished at 15:04 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
"We tried it, it didn't work and we should probably change things for the next race."
That was Christian Horner's assessment of the new qualifying format after a farcical outing in Melbourne.
It hasn't gone away, though, it is very much here and in place in Bahrain.
It's been roundly criticised, but maybe it will surprise us today, especially after Ferrari's eyebrow raising times in final practice a little earlier.
Image source, Getty Images
The sound...of silencepublished at 15:00
Image source, Getty Images
This was pretty much how things looked on the circuit with around three minutes left at the end of qualifying in Australia. Empty.
Ferrari didn't fancy their chances of beating Lewis Hamilton's time, and Sebastian Vettel even had time to change into some jeans before the chequered flag was waved.
Vettel, though, might just be hanging around in his race suit a little longer today...
Postpublished at 14:09 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Mercedes might not look too worried about Ferrari's flex of the muscles there, but it does at least add a sprinkling of spice for this afternoon's qualifying.
I'm just going to have a brief rest of the fingers but will be back at 15:00 BST for qualifying build up.
See you then.
Postpublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Mark Gallagher
BBC Radio 5 live Formula 1 analyst
I don't think a Ferrari will be on pole but we might not see an all Mercedes front row. I am sure there will be a lot of working going on at Mercedes to make sure what we saw at the end of FP3 is not repeated in qualifying.
FP3 resultpublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
11) Ericsson 12) Magnussen 13) Button 14) Vandoorne 15) Verstappen 16) Sainz 17) Nasr 18) Hulkenberg 19) Perez 20) Palmer 21) Haryanto 22) Wehrlein
FP3 top 10published at 14:04 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
1) Vettel 2) Raikkonen 3) Rosberg 4) Hamilton 5) Bottas 6) Grosjean 7) Kvyat 8) Gutierrez 9) Massa 10) Ricciardo
Postpublished at 14:03 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
The chequered flag is out and Jolyon Palmer is creeping back to the pits. He's had a late puncture to end a largely disappointing session. He finished it 0.8s off the pace of his Renault team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
Chequered flagpublished at 14:01 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Sebastian Vettel finishes fastest in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Image source, Getty Images
Postpublished at 14:00 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Nice from Stoffel, very nice! He is round in 1:33.774, that's just 0.070s off Jenson Button's time.
Postpublished at 13:59 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Into the final two minutes and it looks like Stoffel Vandoorne is going to sneak in a qualifying run.
Jenson Button's super soft lap produced a 1:33.704 - 13th quickest - what can Vandoorne do?
Postpublished at 13:58 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Another good showing from Haas. Romain Grosjean is sixth, 1.4s off Sebastian Vettel's time, with Esteban Gutierrez eighth. Encouraging signs once again.
Postpublished at 13:57 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Get involved #bbcf1published at 13:56 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Postpublished at 13:56 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Tom Clarkson
BBC Radio 5 live commentator
No-one at Mercedes is looking too flustered. While Ferrari are going flat out preparing for qualifying, both Mercedes drivers are doing practice starts with five minutes to go.
Postpublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Mark Gallagher
BBC Radio 5 live Formula 1 analyst
I think we could have a fight on our hands.
Postpublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Indeed he does! Sebastian Vettel leaps into P1 with a 1:31.683. Ferrari one-two and four tenths of a second quicker than the Mercedes. Kapow!
Postpublished at 13:53 British Summer Time 2 April 2016
Kimi Raikkonen has never won the Bahrain Grand Prix but he has been on the podium seven times and clearly he loves this circuit as he lays down the gauntlet with a 1:31.723 on his first lap on the super softs, putting him into P1.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel is out on a qualifying simulation. He has the super softs on. Will he show his hand now?