Bottas on pole for Sakhir GP

Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W11 leads George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W11 during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Sakhir at Bahrain International Circuit on December 05, 2020 in Bahrain, Bahrain.

Image: Giuseppe Cacace - Pool/Getty Images Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W11 leads George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W11 during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Sakhir at Bahrain International Circuit on December 05, 2020 in Bahrain, Bahrain.

Valtteri Bottas put Mercedes on pole position for the Sakhir Grand Prix on Saturday with team mate George Russell, standing in for the absent Lewis Hamilton, securing the front-row lockout.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen qualified third for Sunday's floodlit Formula One race with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc a surprising fourth.

Hamilton has already won the title, his record-equalling seventh, but the Briton is isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.