Sebastian Vettel on pole in Bahrain

After several problems, including a lost wheel, during the morning sessions, the Virgin drivers were the first to set off. Timo Glock sets a time of 2:01:006, Lucas di Grassi turns in 2:02:131. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) imitates them and places a good time: 1?55??972. Jenson Button (McLaren) then laps in 1:56??130, before Fernando Alonso improves his time to 1:55??482. It was then his teammate Felipe Massa who set the best time in 1:55:313.

While we were heading towards Karun Chandhok not participating in the qualifying session, his team, Hispania Racing Team, managed to finish preparing its car in time. The Indian, after a first lap in 2:21:793, placed five seconds behind his teammate, Bruno Senna, in 2:08:424.

The pilots Red Bull then show themselves to their advantage, taking back the torch of the best time in Q1. It was first Mark Webber (1) who took the lead, before Sebastian Vettel (1?55??029) does not take over. That's without counting on Fernando Alonso, who improved before the end of the Q1 countdown (1:54:612).

Unsurprisingly, the six drivers of the three new teams of Formula 1 are among the first seven eliminated from the qualifying session. The seventh is Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), which rotated in 1:57:071, half a tenth of a second slower than Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), last qualified for Q2.

In Q2, Sebastian Vettel returned to battle and, for his first time, lowered the reference mark to 1:54:035, the best time of the weekend. Fernando Alonso is getting closer (1:54:265), as are the two men's teammates, Mark Webber, 3rd, and Felipe Massa, 4th. McLaren and Mercedes seem slightly behind, left behind by their rivals in this very particular qualifying exercise.

Five minutes from the end of the session, Jenson Button (McLaren) was potentially eliminated, ranked eleventh, in 1:55:478, ahead of his former teammate, Rubens Barrichello (Williams). Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), ninth, is not calm either.

Three minutes from the end of the Q2 countdown, all the drivers return to the track to set a final fast time. Jenson Button, in 1:55?:168, was the last qualifier, managing to enter the top 10, eliminating his former teammate, Rubens Barrichello, in the process.

The others eliminated are Tonio Liuzzi (Force India), Nico Hulkenberg (Williams), Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and Vitaly Petrov (Renault). In Q3, we find the drivers of the four top teams (McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull) as well as Robert Kubica (Renault) and Adrian Sutil (Force India).

In Q3, Fernando Alonso was the first to take the lead, taking the best time in 1:55:072. He is provisionally ahead of Felipe Massa (1:55:131) and Lewis Hamilton (1?56??828), while the other drivers wait until the last moment to set their reference time, giving themselves only one chance to qualify.

Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) sets off, he is ahead in the first sectors, in a position to take the best time. He set the best time in 1:54:101, while Felipe Massa (Ferrari) set the second time in 1:54:242, ahead of his teammate, Fernando Alonso, in 1:54:608.

The German driver, for the first race of the year, therefore signs the sixth pole position of his career. Red Bull, which had worked rather discreetly during pre-season testing, revealed its full potential. Ferrari occupies its place, as expected. On the other hand, McLaren disappoints somewhat, with the fourth and eighth places of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.