F1 2020: Starting grid and race preview for Bahrain Grand Prix

Hamilton claimed pole position, the 98th of his incredible career, with a lap record on Saturday as he clocked a time of one minute and 27.264 seconds.

Despite securing a record-tying seventh drivers' championship in Turkey last time out, Hamilton shows no sign of taking it easy in the final weeks of the season.

Victory in Sunday's race would be his fourth in Bahrain and move him level with Vettel, who endured another chastening day as a miserable campaign for Ferrari continued.

Hamilton beat team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.289 seconds, the Mercedes duo securing an 11th front-row lockout of the season.

Max Verstappen rounded off the top three, claiming third ahead of Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon.

The Silver Arrows dominated a Q3 session that was absent both Vettel and team-mate Charles Leclerc, who failed to make it out of Q2.

Lance Stroll, the surprise pole-sitter in Turkey, also missed out on Q3 and had to settle for 13th behind Vettel and Leclerc after a second session that was red-flagged due to a car failure for McLaren's Carlos Sainz.

@LewisHamilton #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/fdrJwVCMq9

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 28, 2020

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 4. Alex Albon (Red Bull) 5. Sergio Perez (Racing Point), 6. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) 7. Esteban Ocon (Renault), 8. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) 9. Lando Norris (McLaren), 10. Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri) 11. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), 12. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 13. Lance Stroll (Racing Point), 14. George Russell (Williams) 15. Carlos Sainz (McLaren), 16. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 17. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo),18. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 19. Romain Grosjean (Haas), 20. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)

Hamilton has reason to keep pushing despite already having the title wrapped up; if he wins all three of the remaining races on the 2020 calendar, he will equal the record held by Michael Schumacher and Vettel for most wins in an F1 season (13).

Albon may be nervously looking over his shoulder when he takes to the starting grid, given he finds himself in close proximity to Racing Point's Sergio Perez.

Perez, who qualified fifth, is looking to secure fourth in the drivers' championship and enters this race 30 points ahead of Albon.

Calls have grown for Red Bull to replace Albon with Perez, who does not have a drive for 2021, and those will only continue if the Mexican is able to out-perform his rival on Sunday.

Yes @SChecoPerez nicely done! P5 and the first car that isn't a Mercedes or Red Bull! Top job #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/nfHEzChkCW

— BWT Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) November 28, 2020

Lewis Hamilton (pole): "This is a continuation of what we can do as a team. I just continue to be amazed by my guys [who] work so hard, weekend in, weekend out."

Valtteri Bottas (2nd): "It felt good, that's the problem, it feels good and you realise you're extracting everything out of the car and the lap time is not there," he said. "I need to find out but at least it's another front-row lockout for us."

Max Verstappen (3rd): "My lap was pretty good, just lacking a bit of rear grip in the lower speed corners. I think they [Mercedes] picked up their pace today. It will be hard to beat them, I just hope it will be an exciting race."

Alex Albon (4th): "The car has been feeling good this weekend. Especially since today really, it's kind of clicked a bit more. Obviously, P4 is nice. Hopefully, we can be a thorn in Mercedes' strategy and see what we can do."

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 307 2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 197 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 170 4. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) – 100 5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 97