Lewis Hamilton felt he had got all he could out of his Mercedes as Max Verstappen stormed to an impressive pole position for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Red Bull driver Verstappen finished 0.388 seconds clear of Mercedes rival and defending world champion Hamilton in qualifying on Saturday.
Valtteri Bottas was 0.589s back in third with Charles Leclerc taking an impressive fourth for Ferrari.
Verstappen had previously topped every practice session in Sakhir, a circuit where he is due a change of luck having retired there four times – more than at any other track in his Formula One career.
His dominant start to the campaign has fans dreaming of a competitive 2021 season after Hamilton was in a class of his own in winning a seventh world title last year.
"We have already had a great week of testing," Verstappen said.
"There are no guarantees but it's been great so far coming back for the race week. The car has been working really well - really enjoyable to drive.
"With the wind conditions changing, it's not easy to change the set-up of the car for every session but it all worked out perfectly in qualifying and I'm really happy with pole position.
"My first lap in Q3 wasn't amazing so I knew there was more in it – you never know how much - but finally the balance was there and you can push a little bit more.
"You have to be careful not to overheat the rear tyres but where it mattered we could perform. The car has been steady on the short and long runs - we have a good car."
Hamilton felt grid spots of second and third were solid accomplishments for Mercedes after their struggles in pre-season testing.
The Briton said: "Amazing [to have competition]. Congratulations to Max. He did such a great job, so fast on that last lap.
"I absolutely gave it everything I had but unfortunately it was not good enough. There is always more but it was the best I could do that is for sure and I got absolutely everything I could from the car.
"We did a really good job from testing to come here - everyone in the factory has done an amazing job.
"To be that close, closer to the Red Bulls [is good] considering in testing we thought we would be further behind."
There was some disappointment for Red Bull when Sergio Perez was unable to reach Q3 as he tried to reach the shoot-out on medium tyres. He will start 11th.
It means Hamilton and Bottas will, as they did for much of last season when Alex Albon struggled, have a strategic numerical advantage at the front as they battle Verstappen.
Bottas said: "Anything is possible and we can only aim for Sunday. We have two cars in the mix at the front with Max, so we'll see.
"The practice this morning wasn't easy, I had a couple of issues with balance.
"It was a bit better this evening. We used two sets of soft tyres in Q2 so in Q3, I only had one set of tyres, so it wasn't easy to compete with Max and Lewis."
Verstappen was just 0.023s ahead of Hamilton after the first runs of Q3, and then had to respond when his rival went fastest with his second attempt.
The Dutchman produced a brilliant answer, though, comfortably taking pole as he looks to win two straight races for the first time in his F1 career, having triumphed in the last race of 2020.
Pierre Gasly was fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo for his new team McLaren. Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, the returning Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10.
Sebastian Vettel had a frustrating first competitive outing for Aston Martin, as he and Esteban Ocon were eliminated in Q1, not helped by yellow flags towards the end of the session.
Ocon was 16th with Vettel in 18th, just one place ahead of Mick Schumacher on his F1 debut as the two Haas cars finished on the back row.
Hamilton has won the last two editions of the Bahrain Grand Prix, but no driver has ever recorded three straight victories at the event.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:28.997
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.388s
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +0.589s
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.681s
5. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) +0.812s
6. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) +0.930s
7. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.977s
8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +1.218s
9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +1.252s
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.604s
Norris 'not comfortable' despite setting pace in Belgium practice
Lando Norris admitted he was "not comfortable" despite being fastest in the Belgian Grand Prix second practice.
McLaren finished first and second on Friday, with Norris finishing just 0.215 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Max Verstappen finished third, but despite an impressive performance, his 10-place grid penalty will affect his result.
Norris finished second in the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, behind Piastri, in a race overshadowed by a radio spat between the Brit and the pit wall.
Having put that behind him, even after a confident practice session on Friday, Norris is not willing to rest on his laurels with Red Bull showing their threat.
"Red Bull are very quick at the minute," Norris said. "So, tricky, but I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car.
"So hopefully I just wake up [on Saturday] and feel a bit more comfortable with it. But we'll try and improve a few things and see again.
"I know it looked good on the timesheets, but I've not felt super comfortable in just going out and doing it. So, hopefully, I can just get in a bit more of a rhythm and feel a bit better out there."
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished in 10th after struggling to match the pace set in the second session.
Mercedes have been credited for their improvement in recent weeks, with Hamilton winning at Silverstone before finishing third at Hungaroring last Sunday.
However, he was also left disappointed on Friday and said he was hoping for the forecast rain over the rest of the weekend to give the team more of an edge.
"It was a pretty bad day," Hamilton said.
"I don't really know what to say! Obviously, it's been feeling great in the past couple of races, but it just felt completely different today.
"We worked on it. The first session was not great, but then in the second session we made some changes, and it started off great, and then when I got to the soft tyre I just couldn't improve and there were a bunch of balance issues we had through the lap.
"It was better through this session, but everyone else went even better. So, to be 1.2s behind is not great.
"If it rains, then that opens it up a little bit and, hopefully, we can do a better job. I think the car should be better in the wet than it is in the dry."
Perez '100% certain' of Red Bull stay after Belgian Grand Prix
Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.
There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.
Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.
His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.
With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.
However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.
"I am 100% sure," Perez said.
"Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.
"It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.
"Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.
"I'm not worried about it. Like I said, I know where I stand. That's not my concern. My only concern I have is to get my season back on track. The rest, I'm pretty chilled about."
McLaren to discuss whether to prioritise Norris over Piastri, says Brown
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has said meetings will take place to discuss whether to prioritise Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri for the remainder of the season.
The issue arose following last week's Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw Piastri's maiden win in Formula One overshadowed by Norris' radio spat with the pit wall.
Piastri had led much of the race before a bizarre pit-stop call by McLaren allowed Norris to take the lead, but was ordered to give the lead back to his team-mate.
Norris initially refused to do so, but with three laps remaining, handed the place back to the Australian as McLaren secured a first one-two since Monza in 2021.
Piastri's win at the Hungaroring made him the seventh different winner in 2024. It is the 16th different year with at least seven winners, the first since 2012 (eight).
But one of Norris' protestations before giving the position back was his battle with Max Verstappen in the Driver's Championship.
Despite scoring his eighth podium of the season in Hungary, the Brit remains 76 points behind the three-time world champion.
Brown, who wasn't on the pit wall in Hungary but is back for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, said the decision would ultimately fall to team principal Andrea Stella.
He told Sky Sports F1: "That's ultimately going to be Andrea's call. We want to get through the first half of the season, see where we end up this weekend.
"I think the Constructors' Championship, while it's definitely not going to be easy, is well within reach.
"I think the challenge on the drivers' front is Max's bad days are second and third places, so (it's difficult) to make those claw backs that we're making on the constructors' that we can do because (Sergio) Perez is struggling at the moment, we also know he's capable of turning it on at any moment.
"That will be something I think we discuss over the summer break."
McLaren's recent pace and form has seen them have a driver on the podium in the last nine races, cutting the gap to Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship.
The British team have another excellent opportunity to cut the gap in Spa, with Norris' championship rival Verstappen receiving a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race by exceeding his engine allowance for the season.
But the Dutchman topped the first practice on Friday, with Piastri finishing 0.531 seconds behind with Norris down in ninth, 0.512secs off his McLaren team-mate.
And Verstappen's showing has left Brown refusing to rule out the possibility of the three-time world champion claiming an eighth win of the season.
"It's a tricky track with how much downforce you want versus speed," Brown said.
"You have to assume Max is on for pole, which is P11.
"It would be a big mistake to think he can't go from P11 to P1 but we have to take every advantage you can."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
