Nico Rosberg will start the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position after outpacing his team-mate during the final shoot-out to secure the top spot.
The German put the pressure on with his first lap during Q3 which was already three tenths quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s, but a lock-up at turn one for the Briton on his final flying lap wrapped pole up for Rosberg.
Daniel Ricciardo qualified an impressive third, several places higher than team-mate Sebastian Vettel. The champion couldn’t manage to break out of Q2.
Ricciardo will however start P13 due to a ten-place penalty carried across from the Malaysian GP.
Valtteri Bottas therefore starts third alongside the Force India of Sergio Perez. The Mexican looked well down on pace compared to team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, but when it mattered, he put the time in whilst Hulkenberg had to settle for P12.
Kimi Raikkonen outqualified Fernando Alonso for the first time this year with seventh compared to the Spaniard’s tenth.
Between that duo are Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen.
Qualifying – 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:35.439 | 1:33.708 | 1:33.185 |
| 02 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:35.323 | 1:33.872 | 1:33.464 |
| 03 | D. Ricciardo* | Red Bull | 1:36.220 | 1:34.592 | 1:34.051 |
| 04 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:34.934 | 1:34.842 | 1:34.247 |
| 05 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:34.998 | 1:34.747 | 1:34.346 |
| 06 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:35.234 | 1:34.925 | 1:34.368 |
| 07 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:35.699 | 1:34.714 | 1:34.387 |
| 08 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:35.085 | 1:34.842 | 1:34.511 |
| 09 | K. Magnussen | McLaren | 1:35.228 | 1:34.904 | 1:34.712 |
| 10 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:35.251 | 1:34.723 | 1:34.992 |
| 11 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:35.549 | 1:34.985 | |
| 12 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:34.874 | 1:35.116 | |
| 13 | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:35.395 | 1:35.145 | |
| 14 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:35.815 | 1:35.286 | |
| 15 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:36.567 | 1:35.891 | |
| 16 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:36.654 | 1:35.908 | |
| 17 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:36.663 | ||
| 18 | A. Sutil | Sauber | 1:36.840 | ||
| 19 | K. Kobayashi | Caterham | 1:37.085 | ||
| 20 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:37.310 | ||
| 21 | M. Ericsson | Caterham | 1:37.875 | ||
| 22 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:37.913 |
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