Ferrari burn up Bahrain to leave Lewis in shade

Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel stormed to pole position in Bahrain to leave defending F1 champ Lewis Hamilton trailing in his wake.

Hamilton posted the fourth-quickest qualifying time but was shunted down the order to ninth on the grid after being penalised for a gearbox change.

Kimi Raikkonen starts in second as Ferrari secured a front-row lockout with the Italian team laying down the championship gauntlet to Mercedes.

Hami lton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas starts third in today’s race.

Vet tel wa s t ra i l ing Raikkonen following the opening runs in the desert but the championship leader, who beat Hamilton at the opening race in Australia, delivered the goods when it mattered most.

The German finished 0.134 seconds clear of Raikkonen, with Bottas marginal ly father back.

Vettel said: “If the car is responding to what you want to do, it is a pleasure to drive, otherwise it is a fight. Australia was more of a fight but we improved here.” British track star Hamilton said: “It’s not going to be easy now that’s for sure. The goal was to get pole but the Ferraris were just too quick.”

Daniel Ricciardo lines up in fourth for Red Bull but his team-mate Max Verstappen saw his ragged start to the new campaign continue after a 140mph shunt.

The 20- year- old, who spun in Melbourne a fortnight ago, lost control of his car on the exit of turn two and then slid into the barrier on the opposite side of the circuit.

Verstappen did manage to complete a decent lap before his crash, sparing him the in dignity of propping up today’s grid. The Dutch ace will start 15th.