Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying

Summary

Bottas on pole for first time, Hamilton 2nd, Vettel 3rd
Hamilton top in Q1 and Q2, Grosjean and Palmer through to Q3
Alonso must change engine for race
Get involved #bbcf1

Live Reporting

Gary Rose

Confident, talented and ruthlesspublished at 15:46 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Bahrain
Image source, Getty Images
Max Verstappen does not lack for confidence. Just starting his third season in Formula 1, with one win under his belt, the 19-year-old Red Bull driver has no doubts about his ability.
Could he beat Lewis Hamilton in the same car, he is asked towards the end of our interview on Thursday?
"Probably I will sound really arrogant, but for sure," the Dutchman says.
Read more from Verstappen here.
Get involved #bbcf1published at 15:44 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Postpublished at 15:43 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Image source, Getty Images
Remember Chinese Grand Prix Friday practice? When very little actually happened because poor visibility meant the medical helicopter could not take off, leaving me to talk about some fans putting up a Sebastian Vettel sign for three hours. That was fun...
Anyway, no such worry about the chopper being grounded in Bahrain. The skies are clear and blue.
Can Kimi get in the mix?published at 15:40 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Image source, Getty Images
Kimi Raikkonen generally knows how to do well on this circuit. He has finished in second place in the past five years except in 2014, when he finished 10th.
Postpublished at 15:36 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Image source, Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel has twice before been on pole position in Bahrain, first in 2010 and again in 2012, both while he was at Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton also has two pole positions in Bahrain, in 2015 and 2016.
Another Senna record in his sightspublished at 15:29 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Image source, Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton has been on pole for the last six races. Only four drivers, including Hamilton, have previously managed seven successive poles.
Ayrton Senna holds the record of eight.
Get involved #bbcf1published at 15:26 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
GK on Twitter believes Lewis Hamilton will not be denied a seven successive pole position, but he expects Max Verstappen to be up there ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Image source, .
Getting closer...published at 15:22 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
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If Lewis Hamilton secures pole position it will be the 64th of his career and put him within one of Ayrton Senna's record.
Michael Schumacher has the all-time record with 68.
Who will take pole position?published at 15:17 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Tom Clarkson
BBC Radio 5 live commentator
I think Lewis. He goes very well at this track and in the cooler conditions of this evening and he will deliver when it matters. With Ferrari doing practice starts in final practice I wonder if they think qualifying is out of reach and their focus is the race?
The calm before the stormpublished at 15:13 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
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Your qualifying predictionspublished at 15:11 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
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Qualifying gets under way at 16:00 BST.
How do you think the top three will look? Make your predictions here.
Postpublished at 15:09 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Bahrain
Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari have been closely matched so far this weekend and the final practice session is not generally representative of form.
The conditions in the intense desert sun are very different from those the drivers will encounter in qualifying and the race, which start at dusk, when temperatures begin to drop.
This could have had an influence on the margin between Verstappen, Hamilton and Vettel, as the first two set their times a good 10 minutes later in the session at a time when the sun is beginning to dip in the sky.
Read Andrew's full report from final practice here.
Postpublished at 15:07 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
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Postpublished at 15:06 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Hello! How are we onto the third race of the season already?
Sebastian Vettel won the first one, Lewis Hamilton the second, could it be Max Verstappen for the third?
I'm getting ahead of myself but Verstappen was a surprise pacesetter from Hamilton in final practice a little over one hour ago. The Dutchman was 0.110 seconds clear of Hamilton, with Vettel 0.556s off the pace/
While topping qualifying is probably beyond the Red Bull at the moment they are at least showing signs of being competitive, having been nowhere near in Australia and China.
Image source, Rex Features
And now there are three?published at 14:59 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Image source, Getty Images
Have Red Bull joined the party? Or will Mercedes and Ferrari once again be in a league of their own during qualifying?
It's probably the latter - actually I am certain it is the latter - but a Red Bull topping final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix at least gives us something interesting to chew over for the next hour...
Postpublished at 14:13 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Right then, we're going to press the pause button but will be back at 15:00 BST for build up to qualifying.
In the meantime, stick your qualifying top three predictions in here.
Image source, .
Final practice - the restpublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
11) Perez 12) Alonso 13) Wehrlein 14) Stroll 15) Vandoorne 16) Ocon 17) Magnussen 18) Grosjean 19) Ericsson 20) Palmer
Final practice top 10published at 14:06 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Vettel 4) Bottas 5) Raikkonen 6) Massa 7) Ricciardo 8) Hulkenberg 9) Sainz 10) Kvyat
'More to come from Hamilton'published at 14:03 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Mark Gallagher
BBC Radio 5 live Formula 1 analyst
"Lewis Hamilton didn't even meet the apexes on that quickest lap so I think there is more to come from him today."
Image source, Rex Features
Chequered flagpublished at 14:01 British Summer Time 15 April 2017
Max Verstappen finishes fastest in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Image source, Getty Images