Bahrain Grand Prix Formula 1 pole-sitter M🙈ax Verstappen knew he had more time in hand going into his final flying lap of qualifying, which proved enough to beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position.

The Red Bull driver was fastest in all three practice sessions and ultimately usurped reigning world champion Hamilton by nearly four-tenths of a seconꦗd to claim the first pole of 2021 to top qualifying for the fourth time in his career.

Verstappen was only 0.023s faster than Hamilton during the opening runs of Q3 but explained he was aware that he had more time in the bag starting hi🀅s final flying effort.

“Basically myꦗ first lap in Q3 wasn’t amazing, so I knew there was more in it,” said Verstappen.

“You🗹 never know how much. But finally the balance was there, and then you can push a little more.

“The track is quite hot, so you have to be carefulﷺ with not overheating the rear tyres. Luckily when we managed, we could perform.”

It marked Red Bull’s fꦦirst back-to-back poles since 2013 and is the first time that Mercedes will not start at the very front of th💎e grid at the opening round of a season in the V6 hybrid era.

“I think it shows that the guys after the eꦰnd of last year just kept pushing very hard and now the adjustments that have been made to the car, they’ve done a great job,” Verstappen added. “So really happy for the whole team.

“The last few years it hasn’t really materialised but in a way, the regulations haven’t really changed a lot and we knew what our weaknesses were last year and it seems like we address☂ed them so far at the beginning of the year.

“Of course very happy with that. Greaꦅt start for us but no guarantees for the future. But very happy so far with the whole weekend.”

Prior to qualifying, AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost 🐬suggested that Honda’s brand new power unit for 2021 had put the Japanese manufacturer “very, very close” to Mercedes’ class-leading engines.

Asked ifꦡ he felt Honda’s improvements were the most impressive he has seen from them, Verstappen replied: "Yea💟h I think you could say that. That doesn’t mean of course that the previous years it wasn’t impressive.

“Their turnaround has been pretty good and their understanding of the engine is impressive. It’s really enjoyable to work with them as well, they’re really passionate and e๊motional, which I like.

“They are just flat-o꧅ut all the time, they want to win, you can really see that. Big credit to them also for the result today. They had a great winter.”