Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix with a record lap in Saturday's qualifying session, ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas who completed a front-row lockout for Mercedes.

The Briton lapped the 5.4-kilometer floodlit Sakhir desert track in one minute 27.264 seconds, beating his Finnish team mate by 0.289 seconds.

Max Verstappen took third place for Red Bull.

It was the 98th pole of Hamilton's career and puts him on course to complete a century, with the Bahrain race the first of a season-ending Middle Eastern triple-header.

It was his 10th pole this season and third in Bahrain, putting him level with Sebastian Vettel as the most successful qualifier at the Sakhir track.

"You know I came today and I was like, let's just have fun and enjoy," said Hamilton, who equaled Michael Schumacher's record haul of seven championships at the last race, in Turkey, two weeks ago.

"And that's the most important thing, to enjoy what you're doing, and with the pressure a little bit off, it's a bit of a release to go and drive like I just did."

With two races to go, the Briton could reach a remarkable total of 100 pole positions at the final race while he is also seeking to increase his season total of wins from 10 to a record-equaling 13 triumphs.

Max Verstappen was third ahead of his Red Bull teammate Alex Albon who recovered from his crash in Friday's practice to go fourth quickest. 

Setting out alongside each other on the second row of the grid, the two could challenge Hamilton on Sunday at a track where the pole-sitter has gone on to win only six of the 15 races to date.

Ferrari, dominant in Bahrain last year when they locked out the top two spots in every session of practice and qualifying, failed to make it into the top 10 this time. They will start with Vettel in 11th and Charles Leclerc 12th.

"We'll see what we can do tomorrow," said Verstappen. "It's quite aggressive on tires here. Hopefully it will be quite an interesting race."

(Cover image: Pole position qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP talks with third place qualifier Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit in Bahrain, November 28, 2020. /CFP)

(With input from Reuters and AFP)