Nico Rosberg will start the Bahrain Grand Prix on pole position, just a week after his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, secured pole in China to give Mercedes their first consecutive poles since returning to F1.
The German starts ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who qualified just two tenths slower, whilst Fernando Alonso will occupy third.
The second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth, but will incur a five-place grid penalty after the team were forced to change his gearbox.
Fifth placed Mark Webber will also start lower after the stewards awarded him a three-place drop following a collision in China last weekend.
Force India continued their impressive form with Paul di Resta setting the seventh quickest time behind Felipe Massa and ahead of team-mate Adrian Sutil.
Kimi Raikkonen admitted Lotus don’t have the pace in Bahrain, which was proven on Saturday with his ninth place and Romain Grosjean’s 11th.
Esteban Gutierrez starts last after a five-place drop thanks to a collision with Adrian Sutil in China.
Qualifying – 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:33.327 | 1:32.746 | 1:32.584 |
| 05 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:33.966 | 1:33.098 | 1:32.078 |
| 10 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:34.071 | 1:33.702 | |
| 12 | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:34.310 | 1:33.914 | |
| 11 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:33.498 | 1:33.762 | |
| 01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:33.364 | 1:32.867 | 1:32.330 |
| 03 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:32.878 | 1:33.316 | 1:32.667 |
| 09 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:33.827 | 1:33.146 | 1:33.327 |
| 04 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:33.498 | 1:33.346 | 1:32.762 |
| 14 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:34.409 | 1:33.976 | |
| 06 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:33.780 | 1:33.358 | 1:33.207 |
| 07 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:33.762 | 1:33.335 | 1:33.235 |
| 08 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:34.048 | 1:33.378 | 1:33.246 |
| 15 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:34.425 | 1:34.105 | |
| 16 | J-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:34.314 | 1:34.284 | |
| 13 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:34.120 | 1:33.974 | |
| 17 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:34.425 | ||
| 18 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:34.730 | ||
| 20 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:36.178 | ||
| 22 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:36.476 | ||
| 21 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:36.304 | ||
| 19 | C. Pic | Caterham | 1:35.283 |
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