Champion Verstappen beats Leclerc for pole at F1 opener in Bahrain

World champion Max Verstappen meant business when it mattered on Friday when he stormed to pole position for the season opening Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix.

Red Bull's Verstappen clocked 1 minute seconds on the 5.412-kilometre Bahrain International Circuit as he beat Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc by .228 of a second.

George Russell was third while team-mate Lewis Hamilton will start his final Mercedes season before a Ferrari move in ninth place on Saturday.

Verstappen had not been satisfied in Thursday practice which he finished sixth in both sessions. He improved to third in final practice before going on to claim a 33rd career pole.

"I'm very happy to be on pole. It was a little bit unexpected but luckily in qualifying the car came to us and I felt a bit happier with the whole car," Verstappen said.

"The race is going to be close as well. We look good as well but we'll see tomorrow. I'm confident we can have a strong race."

Verstappen and Red Bull have won the last three drivers' and constructors' titles.

The Dutchman also got pole for last year's Bahrain race and went on to claim the first of a record 19 victories in a season where Red Bull won 21 of the 22 grands prix.

Verstappen's pole time was marginally slower than Leclerc's in Q2, and the Ferrari driver was not fully satisfied.

"I’m a bit disappointed, but yeah, we did a good qualifying. It’s been a tricky weekend until now. We were trying quite a few things in practice and then I found the sweet spot in qualifying," Leclerc said.

"I’m confident we did a step forward but we have to wait and see tomorrow how much of a step forward we did. We really think that Red Bull is still ahead by quite a bit in the race."

Russell was delighted with third place nor far behind Verstappen after he and Hamilton had struggled over the past seasons to have a fully competitive car.

"Everybody at the factory has done an amazing job to give Lewis and I a car that we feel much happier with and a base we can build upon," he said.

"We have obviously made a big step forward in one lap pace and we hope we haven't compromised the race pace. I think it will be a close fight between everybody apart from Max.

"But nobody knows, it's the first race of the season, I'm so excited to be back and let's hope for some craziness."

The Bahrain GP starting a season with a record 24 races is on Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday slot, just like next week's Saudi GP.

That is because the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan starts on Sunday, March 10, which led to the Saudi race moved forward a day. That had a knock-on effect on Bahrain because a full week must be in-between races.