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Lewis Hamilton has vowed to "hunt down" Max Verstappen and the Ferraris despite admitting he has no chance of winning today’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

The seven-times Formula 1 world champion described his Mercedes team as not being in the same league as Red Bull and Ferrari after finishing fifth in yesterday’s qualifying.

But while repeating his assertion that he cannot win the season-opening race, Hamilton said he is relishing the challenge of reeling them in race by race. Hamilton said: “Those guys ahead of us are on another level at the moment but we’ve made some improvements and we’re closer so I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and where we’ve got to.

“I hope we’ll make another step next week and bit by bit, we’ll hunt those guys down. The improvements come from our collective efforts, we're working as hard as we can and I know it's a long, long way to go but I love a challenge.”

And even though Hamilton has discounted his chances of winning at the Sakhir circuit this afternoon, he does not intend to make life easy for the front four, who are headed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen on the front row, with Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez on the second row.

Hamilton said: “We're not quick enough to win but I told you that before the weekend. But there's a lot to play for at the start, and with strategy, so I