2013 BAHRAIN GP: NICO ROSBERG WITH NEW POLE FOR MERCEDES AMG

Nico Rosberg secured pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Rosberg’s pole in Bahrain marks the first back-to-back pole positions for Mercedes since the days of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss in the 1950s. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 0.4s slower in fourth place. He will lose five places for having a gearbox change prior to the session.

Sebastian Vettel got closest for Red Bull, just ahead of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.Fifth position will also change post-session. Mark Webber took the spot for Red Bull, but faces a three-place penalty for his collision with Jean-Eric Vergne in China. Ferrari put Felipe Massa on hard tyres for Q3 and he took sixth place, followed by the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil. The latter only just made it into Q3 with a late charge. Friday pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen was only ninth in his Lotus. McLaren was ecstatic to see Jenson Button reach Q3 against expectations with a last-gasp lap. The Briton chose not to do a flying lap in the pole shootout.

 P.    DRIVER              TEAM         TIME         GAP    LAPS
 1. Nico Rosberg        Mercedes AMG   1:32.330              14
 2. Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull       1:32.584   +  0.254   12
 3. Fernando Alonso     Ferrari        1:32.667   +  0.337   11
 4. Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes AMG   1:32.762   +  0.432   13
 5. Mark Webber         Red Bull       1:33.078   +  0.748   13
 6. Felipe Massa        Ferrari        1:33.207   +  0.877   13
 7. Paul di Resta       Force India    1:33.235   +  0.905   14
 8. Adrian Sutil        Force India    1:33.246   +  0.916   16
 9. Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus          1:33.327   +  0.997   13
10. Jenson Button       McLaren               no set  time   11
  Q2 Fastest time: Sebastian Vettel 1:32.746                    
11. Romain Grosjean     Lotus          1:33.762   +  1.016    7
12. Sergio Perez        McLaren        1:33.914   +  1.168    9
13. Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso     1:33.974   +  1.228   14
14. Nico Hulkenberg     Sauber         1:33.976   +  1.230   14
15. Valtteri Bottas     Williams       1:34.105   +  1.359   13
16. Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso     1:34.284   +  1.538   13
  Q1 Fastest time: Fernando Alonso 1:32.878                     
17. Pastor Maldonado    Williams       1:34.425   +  1.547    6
18. Esteban Gutierrez   Sauber         1:34.730   +  1.852    9
19. Charles Pic         Caterham       1:35.283   +  2.405    6
20. Jules Bianchi       Marussia       1:36.178   +  3.300    6
21. Giedo van der Garde Caterham       1:36.304   +  3.426    7
22. Max Chilton         Marussia       1:36.476   +  3.598    6