Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes was fastest on Saturday to secure pole position for the Sakhir Formula One Grand Prix, with new temporary team-mate George Russell second. It was Bottas’s fifth pole of the season and 16th overall as he clocked 53.377 seconds around the 3.543-kilometre outer track layout of the Bahrain International circuit and beat Russell by 0.026 seconds. Max Verstappen of Red Bull was third, 0.056 off Bottas. “For sure it’s a different situation to have a new team-mate,” Bottas said. “But I focused on my own doing and didn’t waste energy focusing on anything else. Not my best qu…
