But it was Vettel who dominated for his sixth career pole and his pace was demonstrated by the gap to fourth-placed Hamilton of more than a second and 1.4 seconds better than his 41-year-old German compatriot Schumacher.

CNN: Vettel upstages Schumacher to claim Bahrain pole

Hale T Pole conceded a silly penalty to enable Williams to trim the gap to four points.

BBC: Samoa 15-19 Tonga