Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes had expected Red Bull's advantage to be "double" the 0.4s gap to Max Verstappen in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying.

The world champion had a close fight with the Dutchman throughout the session but on the final lap of Q3, Max really stretched the legs of the RB16B to finish 0.388s clear on pole.

It was a result that vindicated Mercedes' belief Red Bull was ahead after testing after Hamilton claimed he got all he could from the W12.

"Congratulations to Max. He did such a great job, so fast on that last lap," he said in Parc Ferme. "I absolutely gave it everything I had, but unfortunately it wasn't good enough.

"There is always more, but that was the best that I could do, that is for sure. I got absolutely everything I could from the car."

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Hamilton was at least offered some comfort by the still pretty significant gap between the two teams.

“It’s definitely closer than we expected,” the Briton stated. “I think this is a really good step forward for us coming into this weekend.

“I think we thought it would be double the gap that you see today and so that’s down to some really fantastic work from the men and women back at the factory.”

As for Sunday's race, however, Hamilton sees little chance of challenging Verstappen across the 57 laps.

“I think they’ve got the pace and with the gap they had today, usually they carry that into the race,” he said.

“They are very strong in race conditions. I’d like to think that we can close that up a bit but I think they have still got at least two tenths in hand. 

“We knew from day one on track that the Red Bull was faster than us and we know we had a bit of an uphill battle to climb, so I’m just proud of everyone’s efforts," Hamilton added.

“I look upon each year and look at what can be improved and really just try to show my appreciation for the team.

“There’s a lot of guys so I can’t name every single one of them at the end of the day but just want them to know how much I appreciate them.”

As for teammate Valtteri Bottas, he wasn't really a factor in the battle for pole, finishing six-tenths back in third.

"I was hoping maybe in the evening session it would be better and it was a bit better but in Q1 we went out for a second run on the soft tyres which meant we wasted a tyre set," he explained.

"So in Q3 I only had one set of new tyres and it was tricky to compete against Max and Lewis with just one set.

"It wasn't too bad, but obviously not where we want to be," he said of his lap. "But at least starting third, and from there, anything is possible and obviously the aim is only for tomorrow."

Indeed, with Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez in 11th, Bottas thinks Mercedes could try and benefit from the 2v1 situation.

"Of course, now we have two cars in the mix at the front against Max, so I'm sure we can cooperate and do something good," he concluded.