Valterri Bottas stuns Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel to take pole in Bahrain

Updated 15/04/2017 at 18:03 GMT

Valterri Bottas has claimed a shock pole position for Mercedes at the Bahrain Grand Prix, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Valtteri Bottas of Finland and Mercedes GP celebrates qualifying in pole position in parc ferme during qualifying for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on April 15, 2017

Image credit: Getty Images

The Finn picked up his first top spot in qualifying to beat his British team-mate and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who have one win apiece in this year's championship, into second and third place on the grid respectively.

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Hamilton finished just 0.023 slower than Bottas's lap of one minute 28.769 seconds, to secure the first front row lockout of the season for the reigning champions.

Red Bull's Australian Daniel Ricciardo will start alongside Vettel in fourth.

Mercedes, who won the race last year with now-retired champion Nico Rosberg, have taken five successive poles at the desert Sakhir circuit.