Mercedes racer Nico Rosberg secured the best starting position ahead of tomorrow's race for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The German was 1 seconds faster than second-placed Sebastian Vettl with a lap of 32.330: 0.254, and Fernando Alonso was third.
Initially, the pace of the qualifiers was dictated by Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, who found themselves at the top of the time tables in the first and second part. In the last part, the initiative was immediately taken by Rosberg, who set a lap time of 1: 32.543 in the first minutes, and most of the racers decided on only one attempt.
Rosberg improved his time in the second fast lap to 1: 32.330, and Alonso and Vettel did not find an answer to the German's run. Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber were fourth and fifth, both of whom will move five and three places back at the start, respectively, due to earned penalties. Felipe Massa thus advanced to fourth place next to his team-mate Fernando Alonso, and the Brazilian is the only one of the top ten to start the race on harder tires. Behind the Ferrari racer, both Force India, Kimi Raikkonen, finished the qualifiers, and the best-ranked Lotus racer finished ninth. Jenson Button was tenth with the McLaren, and the Briton decided not to drive the measured lap, as this would allow him to start the race on any version of the tires.
Eleventh place went to Romain Grosjean with a lotus, and Sergio Perez in the second mclarno was eliminated in the second half. He will be followed by Daniel Ricciardo in Toro Rosso and Nico Hulkenberg in Sauber. Jean Eric Vergne found himself in a sandwich of two williams. The better of the two was the Finn Valtteri Bottas, who set the same time as Pastor Maldonado in the first part, but according to the rules, the better position belongs to the racer who set the time first. The Venezuelan thus fell unhappily, and Bottas got another chance in the second half.
In the background, Charles Pic took full advantage of the innovations in the caterham race car and easily defeated the Marussian racer Jules Bianchi. Giedo van der Garde was better than Max Chilton, and all four will gain one place each, as Sauber racer Esteban Gutierrez will start the fight against the desert heat from the very last place, after earning a penalty number of starting places at the Chinese Grand Prix. .
| Racer | Team | Hour | Circles | |
|
1. |
Nico Rosberg | Mercedes |
01:32.330 |
14 |
|
2. |
Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull |
01:32.584 |
12 |
|
3. |
Fernando Alonso | Ferrari |
01:32.667 |
11 |
|
4. |
Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
01:32.762 |
13 |
|
5. |
Mark Webber | Red Bull |
01:33.078 |
13 |
|
6. |
Felipe Massa | Ferrari |
01:33.207 |
13 |
|
7. |
Paul di Resta | Force India |
01:33.235 |
14 |
|
8. |
Adrian Sutil | Force India |
01:33.246 |
16 |
|
9. |
Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus |
01:33.327 |
13 |
|
10. |
Jenson Button | McLaren |
no time |
11 |
|
11. |
Romain Grosjean | Lotus |
01:33.762 |
7 |
|
12. |
Sergio Perez | McLaren |
01:33.914 |
9 |
|
13. |
Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso |
01:33.974 |
14 |
|
14. |
Nico Hulkenberg | Clean |
01:33.976 |
14 |
|
15. |
Valtteri Bottas | Williams |
01:34.105 |
13 |
|
16. |
Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso |
01:34.284 |
13 |
|
17. |
Pastor Maldonado | Williams |
01:34.425 |
6 |
|
18. |
Esteban Gutierrez | Clean |
01:34.730 |
9 |
|
19. |
Charles Pic | Caterham |
01:35.283 |
6 |
|
20. |
Jules Bianchi | Marussia |
01:36.178 |
6 |
|
21. |
Giedo van der Garde | Caterham |
01:36.304 |
7 |
|
22. |
Max Chilton | Marussia |
01:36.476 |
6 |