Lewis Hamilton's Bahrain GP qualifying lap just became even more impressive as new data emerges

Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix in second place after a superb qualifying lap at the Sepang International Circuit - and new data has shown just how impressive it was.

Hamilton lines up only behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who secured his first pole position of the season, for the race on Sunday.

Verstappen's pole time of a 1:35.130 put him just under three tenths ahead of Hamilton, who himself was two tenths ahead of Kimi Antonelli in third. But while the Dutchman's lap was the class of the field, Hamilton's was arguably just as notable.

Bahrain GP qualifying data emerges after Lewis Hamilton lap

According to straight line speed data, it was Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar - who qualified third but has received a five-place grid penalty - who had the fastest car down the straights in qualifying in Sepang.

Verstappen, though, was just 0.4 per cent slower than Hadjar, proving that the Red Bull Ford powertrain package is very much effective around the 95-second lap.

Interestingly, Antonelli and Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc were 0.9 per cent slower than Hadjar. But Hamilton himself gave up double the deficit down the straights, with a 1.8 per cent difference to Hadjar.

That meant that six drivers had a slower package down the straights than Hamilton, with only George Russell out of those six making it through to Q3 in Sepang.

The seven-time world champion, therefore, will have had to perfect his entry and exit points through the corners to make up time, and set a personal best in sector two by 0.3 seconds compared to his previous lap.

But he lost time in the final sector, which is made up of two slow-speed corners, the long back straight and the run to the line on the pit straight.

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Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton react to Bahrain GP front row starts

Speaking to F1TV's Laurence Barretto after securing pole position, Verstappen said: "From Q1 onwards, yeah, you see that you are in the running. The car has been working really well for me.

"In general for us, it's a proud moment. We had a tough start to the year, and we really put a lot of good stuff on the car and really understood our car a lot better, the behaviour of the car. For sure, it's an amazing moment for everyone to get our first pole.

"It's what we want, as a team. Very happy with that. I hope for us, tomorrow, that we can have a strong race."

Hamilton told Sky Sports F1's Naomi Schiff: "We made one last change going into qualifying and I think we hit the sweet spot. To be able to close the gap to two or three tenths to Max, who's been so quick all weekend, is great, and yeah, I'm so, so grateful.

"I'm much happier with where the car is [compared to practice], but tomorrow is a completely different ballgame. Making these tyres last around the track... I mean, they're overheating from the get-go, so every little bit of wheelspin you have, every little snap you have, depending on the wind, makes a difference of how far you're going to go.

"But I'd like to think we've got a good balance. Max was really quick on his long runs, so I'll just try my best to hold on to it tomorrow."

The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia gets underway at 8am UK time on Sunday morning.