Ferrari 'too quick' for Mercedes to catch - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton delivered a downbeat forecast for the Bahrain Grand Prix, admitting Ferrari "were just too quick" for Mercedes to match them in qualifying. Hamilton went fourth-quickest on Saturday, but will start the race in ninth after taking a gearbox penalty.

Sebastian Vettel backed up his season-opening win in Australia by securing pole position in Sakhir, Kimi Raikkonen joining his team-mate in a front-row lockout.

Vettel took victory under the lights in Bahrain last year and will hope to open up a healthy gap over title rival Hamilton.

Mercedes appeared to be off the pace in long-run simulations on Friday and Hamilton is unsure how far he will be able to cut through the field.

"It's not going to be the easiest tomorrow that's for sure," Hamilton told Sky Sports. "I'll give it everything I've got.

"The goal was to get P1 today but the Ferraris were just too quick. Valtteri [Bottas] put in a good time at the end but I wasn't able to capitalise on the new tyres at the end.

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING): A first pole of 2018 for Sebastian Vettel #BahrainGP ???????? #F1 #Quali pic.twitter.com/sRcBUfFtnY — Formula 1 (@F1) April 7, 2018

"It is what it is and we will try to recover from where we are.

"I've got the softer tyre so I should be able to go longer. There are a couple of different strategies tomorrow so I will try and eke out every last bit of power and strength from this car."

Red Bull looked the team to beat on race pace, with Bottas set to do battle with Daniel Ricciardo from the second row of the grid, having qualified third.

"It felt OK the laps and they were getting better towards the end. I got it more or less," Bottas said.

"These guys in the red car are just a little bit too quick. We can't be happy with this so we are looking forward to tomorrow.

"I think it will be a close race, even with Red Bull and with Lewis and Max [Verstappen, who will start 15th] coming from behind."