Lars Baron/Getty Images Ferrari continued to dominate at the 2019 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc finished top of final practice and qualifying on Saturday. Sebastian Vettel joined him on the front row, beating the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Max Verstappen took fifth place, while Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly couldn't even make it into the final qualifying session. McLaren duo Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris did, in what was an excellent day for the team. But the star of qualifying was Leclerc, who secured his first ever pole position after several impressive practice sessions. Qualifying Recap Ferrari dominated every practice session, and their advantage carried over into Q1, as Leclerc's first flying lap was a full second better than Bottas'. Autosport did note the rest of the field was competitive relative to Mercedes, believing the massive gap may not have been entirely down to pace: Video Play Button Videos you might like Hamilton would go third-fastest later in the session, although he was still well over half a second behind Leclerc. Red Bull were significantly slower than the top dogs, with Gasly well behind Verstappen. Norris and Romain Grosjean nearly came together when the Haas man swerved onto the racing line, drawing the ire of Formula One writer Curtis Moldrich: Norris didn't let the incident break his concentration, finishing Q1 in an impressive fourth place. Grosjean received a three-place grid penalty, per sportswriter Andrew Benson. The Williams cars predictably missed out on Q2 as their struggles continued, while Renault's Nico Hulkenberg also couldn't push his way into the second session. He had been a standout in practice, but couldn't even best Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo in Q1. Hamilton set the early mark in Q2, but his time was once again obliterated by Leclerc. Vettel was significantly slower with his first run, but traffic played a big role; he would record the second-fastest time later in the session. Daniel Ricciardo and Gasly were both in the drop zone with three minutes to go, while the two McLaren drivers worked their way into the top 10. Despite their best efforts both Ricciardo and Gasly fell short with their final runs, continuing their poor starts to the season. Gasly blamed an issue with the throttle: Norris impressed again by going sixth-fastest, drawing praise from YouTuber Matt Gallagher: Mercedes upped the pace to start Q3 but Leclerc still beat Hamilton's initial offering, taking the lead by 0.232 seconds. Vettel ran twice in Q2 and opted not to venture on track early in Q3, limiting himself to a single run, while Verstappen used the same strategy. Both had just a single set of tyres left to work with. Vettel's one lap was a good one, although team-mate Leclerc beat him by nearly two tenths to secure a front-row lockout for Ferrari. Mercedes secured the second row, while Sainz beat out Norris, who had to settle for 10th place prior to Grosjean's penalty. It was still a great day for McLaren, who hadn't gotten both cars into the top 10 since 2017. FP3 Recap Here are the standings from final practice in Bahrain: At the start of the session, the Pirelli Motorsport Twitter account provided details of the tyres in operation this weekend: After using two new sets of tyres in FP2 on Friday, it was anticipated Ferrari might come back toward the rest of the pack on Saturday before giving it their all in qualifying. But they were relentless again in final practice. The Scuderia drivers were coasting for much of the session, until Leclerc upped the pace late on with his mark of 1:29.569. It was a standard the rest of the field were unable to get near to, meaning the Monegasque driver was on top for the second time this weekend. The Autosport Live Twitter account noted there had been encouraging signs from Leclerc in his lap construction: F1 journalist Luke Smith was also impressed with what he'd seen from the Scuderia: It will be intriguing to see how Leclerc copes with the extra expectation in qualifying, especially going up against his team-mate, Vettel; the German has won on four occasions at this circuit. If it's not going to be a Ferrari on top on Sunday, Mercedes will have to do something drastic. Early in the day, they appeared to be at their maximum; when the Silver Arrows are at full tilt, it's rare to see someone of Hamilton's pedigree so far off the pace.<doc-sep>Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying: Charles Leclerc has taken his first pole position When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again Charles Leclerc seized the first pole position of his Formula One career on Saturday to lead Ferrari to a front-row lockout in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Calm and composed in only his second race for the Italian team, the 21-year-old Monegasque was 0.294 seconds clear of last year's pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel who will start alongside under the Sakhir floodlights. Five-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was Ferrari's closest challenger in third for Mercedes, but the Briton was still 0.324 seconds off the pace with team mate Valtteri Bottas alongside in fourth. Leclerc is the second youngest pole sitter of all time after Vettel, who did it at 21 years and 73 days with Toro Rosso at Monza in 2008.<doc-sep>3:11 Fresh from his first ever F1 pole position, Charles Leclerc joins Ant Davidson at the Skypad to reflect on his scintillating pole lap in Bahrain. Fresh from his first ever F1 pole position, Charles Leclerc joins Ant Davidson at the Skypad to reflect on his scintillating pole lap in Bahrain. Charles Leclerc secured his first F1 pole position by leading Ferrari's impressive charge as they held off Mercedes in Bahrain GP qualifying. Leclerc will start Sunday's race ahead of Sebastian Vettel on the front row after outpacing his team-mate by 0.294 seconds to become the second-youngest pole-sitter in the sport's history. "Seb is an amazing driver," said Leclerc. "I will learn a lot from him, but today I'm very happy to be in front of him." Mercedes have been off the pace compared to a resurgent Ferrari all weekend and Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas could only manage third and fourth on the grid respectively. Full result from Qualifying Hamilton hopes for Merc fightback When's the Bahrain GP on Sky F1? Hamilton, however, was only three-hundredths of a second slower than Vettel. 1:47 Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is expecting a closely fought Bahrain GP and hopes to take the fight to an improved Ferrari team who've locked out the front row. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton is expecting a closely fought Bahrain GP and hopes to take the fight to an improved Ferrari team who've locked out the front row. "Ferrari have been incredibly quick," said the world champion. "They have shown incredible pace but that doesn't mean they can't be beaten." After facing a hefty deficit in the season-opener in Melbourne, Ferrari have manufactured a one-second turnaround in Bahrain - a seismic shift and one that potentially hints they are the title favourites for F1 2019. Max Verstappen scraped into fifth, just ahead of Kevin Magnussen in the Haas, but Pierre Gasly once again failed to deliver his Red Bull into Q3. 2:25 Ant Davidson is at the Skypad to look at how Charles Leclerc beat Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel to pole position for the Bahrain GP. Ant Davidson is at the Skypad to look at how Charles Leclerc beat Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel to pole position for the Bahrain GP. In the second qualifying session of the F1 2019 season: Ferrari secured their first front-row lockout since Monza last year and Leclerc becomes F1's second-youngest pole-sitter, behind Vettel - who broke record with Toro Rosso in 2008 Leclerc set a Bahrain track record in his Ferrari but Vettel only had one lap in Q3 and was fortunate to finish just ahead of Hamilton McLaren got both cars into Q3 for the first time since the 2017 Malaysia GP Romain Grosjean finished eighth but was subsequently demoted three places for blocking Lando Norris in Q1 Gasly was knocked out in Q2 as he complained about traction. The Frenchman, Red Bull's new recruit, was eliminated in Q1 in the season-opener in Australia Nico Hulkenberg, who was looking like a top-six contender, was knocked out in Q1 for Renault as Daniel Ricciardo out-qualified his new team-mate for the first time McLaren's impressive rebuild continues Sunday's race is also intriguingly poised in the midfield after another close Saturday shootout, with Haas and McLaren impressively leading the chasing pack. Magnussen's sixth-placed finish was, by his own admission, the result of one of his best qualifying laps for Haas, who were predicted to dominate the midfield. McLaren, however, had no such expectations attached, but Carlos Sainz delivered seventh place ahead of Romain Grosjean, which equals the team's highest grid position from 2018. Grosjean was subsequently handed a three-place grid penalty for blocking British rookie Lando Norris during Q1. McLaren recovery gathering pace Norris will therefore start ninth, behind Kimi Raikkonen, who has started the season strongly on his return to Alfa Romeo. Renault, meanwhile, are trailing their rivals in midfield. Though Ricciardo pulled a lap out of the bag to finish 11th, ahead of Alex Albon and the man who replaced him at Red Bull, Gasly, Hulkenberg endured a hugely frustrating evening to end up 17th. Racing Point were also curiously off the pace, while Williams continue to suffer at the start of F1 2019. George Russell and Robert Kubica's times were almost four seconds slower than the pole time. Bahrain GP Qualifying Timesheet Driver Team Time 1) Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.866 2) Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +0.294 3) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.324 4) Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.390 5) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.886 6) Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.891 7) Carlos Sainz McLaren +0.947 8) Romain Grosjean* Haas +1.149 9) Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +1.156 10) Lando Norris McLaren +1.177 Out in Q2 11) Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:29.488 12) Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1:29.513 13) Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1:29.526 14) Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:29.756 15) Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:29.854 Out in Q1 16) Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:30.026 17) Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:30.034 18) Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:30.217 19) George Russell Williams 1:31.759 20) Robert Kubica Williams 1:31.799 *handed three-place grid penalty Get the dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel - the exclusive home of all live F1. 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Charles Coates/Getty Images Ferrari dominated the first day of the 2019 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel topping first and second practice, respectively. At a circuit where Ferrari have been tough to beat in the last two years, their drivers made a big statement in the first runs. Leclerc was almost a second quicker than Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in FP1, while Vettel topped the charts later in the day, with Lewis Hamilton 0.603 seconds behind him. The Scuderia enjoyed one-twos in both of the day's 90-minute sessions. The drivers are back in action again on Saturday, as they face final practice and then an intriguing qualifying session. Remarkably, the drivers may have to contend with some rain in the desert in qualifying, with the forecast saying there’s a 62 per cent chance of showers on Day 2. Here is a look at how Friday’s action played out. FP2 Recap Video Play Button Videos you might like The F1 Twitter account relayed the results of the second practice session: Following their dominant performance in the morning runs, Ferrari ensured they remained in control in the second session. After trailing his team-mate in the morning, Vettel was able to set the benchmark later in the day, as he posted a mark of one minute, 28.846 seconds despite running wide into the final corner. That was enough to see him edge in front of Leclerc and keep out of the clutches of the Mercedes, who were initially six tenths slower. For the Silver Arrows, that was at least an improvement on the morning runs, where the gap had been closer to a second. There was a scary moment for Vettel late in the session, though, as he joined the list of drivers to come unstuck at Turn 3: One interesting decision made by Ferrari was their choice to use another set of fresh tyres in FP2, as it is common practice to return for the second runs on used compounds. That means Ferrari will likely be slower in FP3, with more focus on qualifying. As the Pirelli Motorsport Twitter account relayed, the pace is already up significantly on 2018 at this race: At the moment, Mercedes have ground to make up on Ferrari if they are going to be competitive come race day. However, we're likely to get a truer indication of their pace when the serious runs start in qualifying on Saturday. FP1 Recap Here's the classification from Friday's first session: After a slow start in the 28-degree heat, Red Bull's Max Verstappen set the first time of the day after almost 20 minutes. Mercedes started out on medium tyres, perhaps wary of degradation: Verstappen battled with Valtteri Bottas and Vettel for P1, with Mercedes getting quicker after a swap to soft tyres, but it was Leclerc stole a march on the chasing pack with his best effort shortly before the hour-mark. Meanwhile, Racing Point's Lance Stroll struggled to get going and soon had to return to the pits after a spin: After an hour, the Canadian had completed just four laps and had not set a representative time, so he did well to get 16 under his belt by the chequered flag. He wasn't the only driver to go for a spin, as George Russell lost his rear at Turn 2 late in the session.