Bahrain – Qualifying: Rosberg extinguishes Hamilton, Mercedes crushes the competition

Q1: The session begins after sunset, and most of the drivers wait in the pits before heading onto the track. Esteban Gutierrez is the first driver to set a time at 1:38:521 with an overweight Sauber. Then it’s Nico Hülkenberg who takes the lead with a significant margin as the other drivers join the track. But it’s an astonishing Daniel Ricciardo who beats his time, even though the Red Bulls seemed very far behind during the morning.

At mid-session, the two Mercedes drivers easily secure themselves, each with more than a one-second lead over the Australian driver, on medium tires. The Williams drivers, once again very confident, have yet to hit the track while the soft tires make their appearance: the two Saubers are in the top 6.

Valtteri Bottas sets the fastest time for a few seconds before being caught between Force India drivers, Hülkenberg in 1st and Sergio Perez in 3rd. With two minutes remaining, Kimi Räikkönen and Jean-Eric Vergne are eliminated. Both men escape, while Romain Grosjean knocks out his teammate after being hindered by Adrian Sutil. The incident will be reviewed by the stewards after the session.

Eliminated in Q1: Maldonado, Sutil, Kobayashi, Bianchi, Ericsson, and Chilton

**Q2:** The drivers quickly take to the track, Valtteri Bottas first. The two Force India drivers once again surround the Williams driver. But it’s Lewis Hamilton who sets the fastest time, before Nico Rosberg improves by a small tenth. Behind the two men, it’s Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen, while neither Sebastian Vettel nor Romain Grosjean have gone out midway through the session.

The two McLaren drivers set their first timed laps to achieve the 4th and 6th fastest times, while all other drivers returned to the pits.

During the last five minutes, Sebastian Vettel is the first driver to go out, followed by all the other drivers except the Silver Arrows, who don’t need to improve their time to secure passage to Q3. Sebastian Vettel sets the 8th fastest time with downshifting issues, but both Williams drivers and Sergio Perez manage to knock him out. The German joins Nico Hülkenberg in the list of surprise eliminations.

Eliminated in Q2: Vettel, Hülkenberg, Kvyat, Vergne, Gutierrez, and Grosjean

Q3: 8 of the 10 drivers competing for pole position went out after 3 minutes, with Valtteri Bottas being the first among them. The Finn clocks in at 1:34:247, which is already fast while only Kimi Räikkönen remains off track. Perez once again slots between the two Williams. But it is once again the Mercedes that are the fastest with a change this time, Rosberg ahead of Hamilton. The two drivers have a one-second lead, a colossal gap that must leave their rivals sighing. The first Renault driver is Daniel Ricciardo in seventh place, with Alonso only in 9th and Kimi Räikkönen not even out.

In the last three minutes, the Finnish Ferrari driver finally comes out, followed by the nine other participants of this session. He sets the 5th fastest time, while Nico Rosberg returns to the pits, aware of being late. Daniel Ricciardo sets the 3rd fastest time while Fernando Alonso ends up in the ninth position, before Kevin Magnussen pushes him to the last place.

It is therefore Nico Rosberg who claims his first pole position of the season ahead of his teammate. The two men have created a massive gap over the rest of the pack led by Daniel Ricciardo, who will start 13th tomorrow due to his penalty.