I’ve arrived, says Bottas as he secures maiden pole

Mercedes driver edges out Hamilton on final lap Vettel lines up in third on grid with Ricciardo fourth

Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, believes the fight for the championship is now a three-way battle after he sprang the surprise of the season to secure his maiden pole position.

The formative rounds of the new Formula One campaign have been played out against the backdrop of Hamilton versus Sebastian Vettel in what could prove a rivalry for the ages.

But the title protagonists may now have to make room for a third man, after Bottas – the understated Finnish driver who has replaced Nico Rosberg at Mercedes this season – turned in the finest moment yet of his sporting life under the floodlights in Bahrain.

It was Hamilton who appeared destined to claim his seventh consecutive pole in a row – just one short of Ayrton Senna’s record – only for Bottas to edge out Britain’s triple world champion with his final roll of the dice in a thrilla-minute qualifying session.

While both Hamilton and Vettel, tied on 43 points ahead of today’s race, failed to improve on their final timed laps, Bottas delivered when it mattered most to beat Hamilton to pole by just 0.02sec on this 3.4-mile circuit.

Hamilton celebrated Bottas’s pole lap almost like one of his own. Moments after stepping out of his car, he grabbed his team-mate from behind and offered his hand in celebration. His ensuing smiles appeared genuine. It was certainly not a reaction he would have reserved for the man who used to occupy Bottas’s Mercedes cockpit.

“It is early days to speak about the title fight, and it is going to be as is a

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massively long season, but I feel like I am in the game,” Bottas, 27, said.

“For a short period of time you have to enjoy what you have done over the weekend, but the main point is tomorrow so there is no point starting to dream about anything.” Hamilton was beaming with pride.

“Firstly, a big congratulations to Valtteri,” the Briton said. “He has been working so hard and gelled so well with the team. Today he was just quicker, and did a better job, so hats off to him. He is getting stronger and stronger. It always was at least a threeway battle as Valtteri has been right there with us from the beginning, so nothing changes.”

For all of Hamilton’s brilliance, he has never been comfortable with losing, but that appears to have changed this term – firstly after Vettel triumphed in Australia and now here. Is he relishing the fight, and in Bottas, perhaps, a new rival?

“It is great how close it is between the teams because it brings out the best in each driver,” Hamilton, five years Bottas’s senior, said. “When you feel like you are at your best, and you do a good job and you are fighting against someone else who is doing just as good a job, it is that much more exciting, and the more drivers we have in the mix the more intense it gets.

“There are going to be lots of ups and downs but Valtteri is definitely keeping me on my toes and I am thoroughly happy for him today. I know how special it is to get your first pole – you dream of it as a kid – and tomorrow could be his first grand prix victory, but I will try my hardest to win.”

Vettel, who lines up in third, was fourtenths of a second slower than Bottas, but his Ferrari should be closer to the Mercedes in race trim. Daniel Ricciardo qualified fourth for Red Bull. Jolyon Palmer, Britain’s No2, has endured a torrid start to the new season, but he progressed to Q3 – the final phase of qualifying – for the first time in his career, and starts a lofty 10th. Bernie Ecclestone is back in an F1 paddock for the first time since he was ousted by the sport’s new owners Liberty Media following their £6.4billion purchase in January. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 86-year-old, who on Friday said he had never exchanged a word with Sean Bratches, the sport’s commercial chief, sat with two allies, Red Bull principal Christian Horner and former Renault boss Flavio Briatore, rather than any of the new regime. Fernando Alonso endured another miserable day in which an engine problem meant he did not take to the track in the second phase of qualifying. Set to start 15th, he could drop to the back of the grid if he has to change his Honda power unit.

‘Today Valtteri was just quicker and did a better job. Hats off to him’