Jolyon Palmer will start from 12th on the grid for Saturday's opening GP2 race in Bahrain following today's closely-fought qualifying session, which saw the top 15 drivers separated by less than a second.

Temperatures were again in the 30s for the start of the 30 minute stint with Palmer and team-mate Marcus Ericcson - carrying a 10-place grid penalty - choosing not to go out straight away.

When they did, Palmer's first flying lap was good enough for just outside the top 10, lapping in the mid 1:42s, before he pitted with around 15 minutes left after the session was red flagged (due to debris on the track from Brendon Hartley's Ocean car).

After switching to the softer option tyres, Palmer emerged from the pits with 10 minutes left and improved to P11. He continued to push over the next few laps but made a few small mistakes, leaving him to settle for P13 - promoted to 12th when taking into account Ericcson's grid penalty.

Speaking afterwards Palmer said: "The track had evolved quite a lot since this morning's practice. We did a run on primes then options and I did my best time on the options. The car felt pretty good and the pace was there. However, I just made a couple of small mistakes on my lap which cost me a few tenths which could have put me P3 on the grid. For tomorrow, we have a good chance to get some points, I need to stay out of trouble early on and finish in the top eight."

Meanwhile, Davide Valsecchi will start from pole with Esteban Gutierrez alongside him on the front row and Felipe Nasr in third.

Jolyon is next on track at 13:45 (UK time) tomorrow for the 32 lap Feature Race.

GP2 Bahrain, qualifying results:

1. D Valsecchi, DAMS, 1:41.200s
2. E Gutierrez, Lotus GP, +0.279s
3. F Nasr, DAMS, +0.585s
4. F Leimer, Racing, +0.598s
5. J Cecotto, Addax, +0.658s
6. S Richelmi, Trident, +0.662s
7. J Calado, Lotus GP, +0.739s
8. L Razia, Arden, +0.762s
9. M Chilton, Carlin, +0.780s
12. J Palmer, iSport, +0.956s