F1 / Bahrain: Vettel returns to pole

After a mixed start to the season, Red Bull woke up in Bahrain by winning his first pole of the season. Sebastian Vettel takes first place on the grid after setting a time of 1:32:422 with less than a tenth better than Lewis Hamilton (McLaren). Mark Webber confirms the return to the forefront of the Red Bull by taking third place ahead of the second MP4-27 of Jenson Button. After his pole and victory in Shanghai, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) was a contender for pole on the Sakhir circuit, but the German only took fifth place after locking his left front wheel on his only flying lap.

Daniel Ricciardo marks a real return of Toro Rosso at the forefront since the Australian set the sixth fastest time in Q3. But his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne seems to have encountered problems with his STR7 since the Frenchman failed again in Q1. The Formula vice-champion Renault 3.5 Series is also under investigation by the stewards for not having stopped at the weight check. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) took seventh place after putting on a final set of soft tires. His teammate Kimi Räikkönen, however, failed in Q2 in 11th place. Sergio Perez (Sauber) takes eighth position ahead Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Paul di Resta (Force India) who preferred to keep their tires for the race. Charles Pic (Marussia) will start from 20th after dominating his teammate Timo Glock.

The start of the Bahrain Grand Prix will be at 14 p.m. French time.