Sebastian Vettel will start his 200th Formula One race from pole position after he and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.

The German secured his 51st career pole with an electrifying lap in the dying seconds of a tense floodlit qualifying session in which Ferrari were dominant.

Read more: Vettel eclipses Hamilton in season-opener in Melbourne

"That was a lion lap," said Vettel. "That was quite intense. I was happy with my first run until I tossed it away in the last corner so I stayed away from that kerb in the second run. The car has been excellent here all weekend."

Valtteri Bottas was third fastest for Mercedes behind the two Ferraris, but ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton who has a five-place grid penalty after an overnight gearbox change and starts from ninth.

That promotes Australian Daniel Ricciardo from fifth to fourth for Red Bull ahead of Frenchman Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso and Dane Kevin Magnussen of Haas.

mds/jh (AFP, AP)