Pierre Gasly

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was 0.388 seconds quicker than Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes to take a stunning pole position at the F1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas was third, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri.

Hamilton, who celebrated his seventh title two weeks ago, had a comfortable 0.289 seconds lead to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and collected the 98th pole of his Formula 1 career.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon were third and fourth, with Sergio Perez in the fifth position.

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon were sixth and seventh, separated by just 0.002secs, ahead of Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris.

Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, to take the pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. The Finn was 0.097 seconds quicker than Hamilton, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen starting in third.

The top five are complete with Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly taking a surprise fourth position followed by Renault's Daniel Ricciardo in fifth.

Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimao, broke the record for the most victories in the Formula 1 (now 92), opened a 77-point advantage over teammate Bottas in the championship, and moved ever closer to a seventh world title, which would match Schumacher's other surviving record.

Valtteri Botas finished in second, Max Verstappen in third, Charles Leclerc in fourth and Pierre Gasly in fifth.