And Charles himself sounded pretty pleased with his efforts on Saturday.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, EPA

Lap of qualifying, possibly even lap of the season, went to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc - a remarkable, almost unbelievable 0.236 seconds from pole in a Ferrari that qualified 11th and 12th in Bahrain a week ago, and which Sebastian Vettel has put 13th on the grid this weekend.

Leclerc produced a real ‘mic-drop moment’ when he set his lap at the beginning of final qualifying, going second fastest only to Max Verstappen at the time, and then climbed out of the car and watched the rest of the session from the pit wall. He had no more tyres to give it another go, and he’d chosen to run early because after second qualifying he was absolutely sure what he wanted to do in the car and he wanted to get on with it - and he wanted to avoid the traffic he expected at the end of the session.

The race, though, is likely to be difficult. The Ferrari has poor straight-line speed, and it is blatantly obvious that Leclerc has out-performed it putting it where he has on the grid.

“A few times this year, we’ve been qualifying ahead of what we probably should have,” he said. “This brings a lot of hopes for Sunday and then it gets frustrating in the car on Sunday. But let’s be realistic, it is going to be a difficult day. I don’t think we will be as competitive. I don’t think we are the fourth fastest car on track. But I’ll try to maximise what I have.”

Jeremiah Kariuki: Hoping this is the day George Russell has been waiting for. The day to get his first F1 points. Holding my breath to see him on the podium, holding a trophy and a haul of good points.

Tweet us using #bbcf1 with all your F1 predictions, hopes and observations.

However, it won't be the order they start in as Lando Norris is heading to the back row after some changes were needed.

In yesterday's qualifying, this was the order they finished in.

Image source, F1

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, EPA

Valtteri Bottas did what he needed to do in qualifying and took pole position. Anything less in the absence of Lewis Hamilton and with a team-mate who had never driven the Mercedes before Friday practice would not have looked good.

But even Bottas was impressed with George Russell’s performance, second and just 0.026 seconds adrift. "I have to say George did a really good job,” Bottas said. “He was really building up to it and you could see the progress in qualifying.”

Team boss Toto Wolff has been trying his best to keep the pressure off Russell, telling him a place in the top four or five on the grid and in the race will be fine. Russell says: “It would be amazing to stand on the podium but ultimately, as a racer, you just want to deliver the best performance possible and in all honesty, some of the performances that we achieved in the Williams for a P14 in qualifying was… the buzz and the thrill to achieve that was incredible.

"So I’m going to leave satisfied or disappointed, depending on how I felt I did. Whether that’s a win, whether that’s a P3, whether that’s a P5 or whatever, there’s no expectations, going into with an open mind and hope for the best.”

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell, speaking on Saturday: "I am really pleased. In some ways being so close [to pole] makes it slightly frustrating, but nevertheless if you told me four days ago that I’d be qualifying P2 this weekend I'd have thought you were having my pants down."

Image source, Getty Images

Valtteri Bottas, speaking on Saturday: "It is a different situation to have a different team-mate but I just wanted to focus on what I was doing and not waste energy on anything else.

"Strategy-wise we are in a good place and It is good to see George on the front row. Not my best qualifying but I am happy with pole."

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

Valtteri Bottas edged Mercedes new boy George Russell to pole position at the Sakhir Grand Prix.

The Finn was just 0.026 seconds quicker than Russell, driving for Mercedes for the first time as a stand-in for Lewis Hamilton, who has coronavirus.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was just 0.03secs behind Russell in third place.

And there was a superb performance from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who took fourth, less than 0.3secs from pole, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel 13th.

It was a highly impressive performance from Russell, who had set the pace in both practice sessions on Friday but fell back a little once running started on Saturday.

Bottas was 0.212secs quicker than Russell after the first runs in qualifying but the Finn failed to improve on his second run and Russell was able to run him close, but just miss out.

Hello everyone and welcome along to BBC Sport's coverage of the Sakhir Grand Prix - the penultimate race of the 2020 Formula 1 season.

I'm Michael Emons and it is my pleasure to be talking you through the action. It's lights out at 17:10 GMT and as always we will have live radio commentary.

Only one place to start - qualifying yesterday.

In 36 races with Williams, George Russell has failed to earn a championship point.

However, with world champion Lewis Hamilton unavailable this weekend after testing positive for Covid-19, it has given Russell the chance to show what he can really do by stepping in at Mercedes.

He impressed on Friday by topping the first two practice sessions and gave Valtteri Bottas a huge fright in qualifying yesterday to secure an all-Mercedes front row.

Can Russell pick up his first championship points - and do so by winning the Sakhir Grand Prix?

What a day it could be for the 22-year-old.

Image source, Getty Images