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Verstappen dominated the qualifying session, pumping in a time of 1m 29.897s on his first Q3 run before improving to a 1m 29.708s the next time around, beating Perez by 0.138s and netting a 21st career pole position in the process.
Lewis Hamilton suffered a disappointing qualifying session under the Sakhir lights on Saturday night as Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, beating his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to top spot.
Hamilton could only manage sixth place on the grid, behind Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin's charge, George Russell.
The seven-time world champion was unable to join in the fight for pole as Mercedes struggled for pace.
Verstappen dominated the qualifying session, pumping in a time of 1m 29.897s on his first Q3 run before improving to a 1m 29.708s the next time around, beating Perez by 0.138s and netting a 21st career pole position in the process.
Ferrari locked out the second row of the grid, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz, but Leclerc did not complete a second run in the pole position shootout, saving a set of tyres for race day.
Lando Norris missed out on a Q3 spot by a couple of tenths, putting his McLaren in 11th place on the grid, ahead of Alfa Romeo pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
There was disappointment for Pierre Gasly, who was eliminated in P20 during his first qualifying session with new team Alpine.
Gasly had a lap time deleted, meaning the Frenchman will line up at the very back of the grid on Sunday.
Yuki Tsunoda emerged as the top AlphaTauri driver securing 14th position on the grid. Meanwhile, Alex Albon was able to take his Williams into Q2 but had to abandon his sole flying lap, resulting in him ending the second phase without a time.
F1 rookie Logan Sargeant was also in the mix, coming close to joining Albon in Q2 after setting an identical time to 15th-placed Norris towards the end of Q1.
However, due to the American's time being posted later, he dropped out and secured 16th position on the grid, ahead of Kevin Magnussen and fellow 2023 newcomers Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries.
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