Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel seems to have waken up at the Bahrain Grand Prix, taking his team's first pole of the season – out-qualifying his teammate Mark Webber, also for the first time in 2012.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton secured yet another front row start – his third in four races –. The Brit is then followed by Webber (third) and his McLaren teammate Jenson Button (fourth).
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) struggled to repeat his Shanghai performance of last week, managing only fifth. Aboard the second Mercedes, Michael Schumacher had an even tougher time, exiting qualifying after Q1 because he did not make the break-out time.
Hekki Kovalainen (Caterham) can be blamed for the seven-time world champion's surprise exit: he put in a blistering lap near the end of the session – with Schumacher on the bubble – only a tenth shy of McLaren and Ferrari; a full second faster that what his Caterham teammate Vitaly Petrov could do.
To Schumacher's defence, he did experience KERS problems, which explain why he did not venture himself out for one last run that could have put him clear of Kovalainen's effort. William's Pastor Maldonado also had reasons to complain about the energy recovery system.
The Venezuelan was forced to sit out Q2. He then dropped five places on the grid because of a gear box change.
Completing the top 10, are Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, Lotus' Romain Grosjean, Sauber's Sergio Perez, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Force India's Paul di Resta.
Both Alonso and di Resta elected not to run in Q3, in order to save themselves an extra set of fresh rubber for the race.
Also noteworthy, rookie Charles Pic (Marussia) out-qualified his teammate Timo Glock for the first time of the season. But to be fair, Pedro de la Rosa, in his HRT F112, also qualified ahead of the German.
Source: Autosport.com
Starting grid – Bahrain Grand Prix
From ItaliaRacing.net
First row
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1min32.422s – Q3
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) – 1min32.520s – Q3
Second row
Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1min32.637s – Q3
Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) – 1min32.711s – Q3
Third row
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) – 1min32.821s – Q3
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1min32.912s – Q3
Fourth row
Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) – 1min33.008s – Q3
Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) – 1min33.394s – Q3
Fifth row
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) – no time – Q3
Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – no time – Q3
Sixth row
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) – 1min33.789s – Q2
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) – 1min33.806s – Q2
Seventh row
Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – 1min33.807s – Q2
Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) – 1min33.912 – Q2
Eighth row
Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) – 1min34.017s – Q2
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1min36.132s – Q2
Ninth row
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) – 1min34.865s – Q1
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1min35.014s – Q1
10th row
Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1min35.823s – Q1
Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) – 1min37.683s – Q1
11th row
Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) – 1min37.883s – Q1
Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) – 1min37.905s – Q1
12th row
Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) – 1min34.639s – Q2 *
Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) – 1min38.314s – Q1
* five-place grid penalty
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton secured yet another front row start – his third in four races –. The Brit is then followed by Webber (third) and his McLaren teammate Jenson Button (fourth).
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) struggled to repeat his Shanghai performance of last week, managing only fifth. Aboard the second Mercedes, Michael Schumacher had an even tougher time, exiting qualifying after Q1 because he did not make the break-out time.
Hekki Kovalainen (Caterham) can be blamed for the seven-time world champion's surprise exit: he put in a blistering lap near the end of the session – with Schumacher on the bubble – only a tenth shy of McLaren and Ferrari; a full second faster that what his Caterham teammate Vitaly Petrov could do.
To Schumacher's defence, he did experience KERS problems, which explain why he did not venture himself out for one last run that could have put him clear of Kovalainen's effort. William's Pastor Maldonado also had reasons to complain about the energy recovery system.
The Venezuelan was forced to sit out Q2. He then dropped five places on the grid because of a gear box change.
Completing the top 10, are Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, Lotus' Romain Grosjean, Sauber's Sergio Perez, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Force India's Paul di Resta.
Both Alonso and di Resta elected not to run in Q3, in order to save themselves an extra set of fresh rubber for the race.
Also noteworthy, rookie Charles Pic (Marussia) out-qualified his teammate Timo Glock for the first time of the season. But to be fair, Pedro de la Rosa, in his HRT F112, also qualified ahead of the German.
Source: Autosport.com
Starting grid – Bahrain Grand Prix
From ItaliaRacing.net
First row
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1min32.422s – Q3
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) – 1min32.520s – Q3
Second row
Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1min32.637s – Q3
Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) – 1min32.711s – Q3
Third row
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) – 1min32.821s – Q3
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1min32.912s – Q3
Fourth row
Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) – 1min33.008s – Q3
Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) – 1min33.394s – Q3
Fifth row
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) – no time – Q3
Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – no time – Q3
Sixth row
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) – 1min33.789s – Q2
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) – 1min33.806s – Q2
Seventh row
Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – 1min33.807s – Q2
Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) – 1min33.912 – Q2
Eighth row
Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) – 1min34.017s – Q2
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1min36.132s – Q2
Ninth row
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) – 1min34.865s – Q1
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1min35.014s – Q1
10th row
Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1min35.823s – Q1
Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) – 1min37.683s – Q1
11th row
Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) – 1min37.883s – Q1
Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) – 1min37.905s – Q1
12th row
Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) – 1min34.639s – Q2 *
Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) – 1min38.314s – Q1
* five-place grid penalty