Nico Rosberg captured his second career pole ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix this Sunday. It is the first time Mercedes has claimed back-to-back pole positions since their return to Formula One in 2010.
The German driver is making a strong case for equal status with teammate Lewis Hamilton after missing the podium in Malaysia as a result of team orders.
In the final qualifying session, Rosberg set the fastest lap, then bested it for a time of 1:32.330.
For Sunday’s race, points leader and previous Bahrain winner Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) will start second (1:32.584), and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso third (1:32.667).
The pace of the Mercedes W04 has undoubtedly been a surprise this season. The team sits fourth, eight points behind Lotus, but ahead of McLaren, almost 40 points back.
Prior to the weekend, Pirelli dropped its soft tire in favour of the medium and hard compounds to battle the extreme heat. It did little to help Hamilton, who suffered a complete delamination of his tire, leading to a gearbox failure and a five-grid penalty to replace it.
Hamilton qualified fourth (+0.432), meaning he will start from ninth place, ahead of his old McLaren teammate, Jenson Button.
Celebrating his 200th Grand Prix, Mark Webber qualified fifth (+0.748), but starts from seventh following a three-spot penalty for colliding with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne last week.
As a result, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) slots in behind his teammate, followed by the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil in fifth and sixth. Sutil’s strong start in his F1 return was marred by a wheel nut malfunction in Malaysia and a collision after being hit from behind by Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber).
Gutierrez was penalized five places, putting him at the back of the grid after qualifying 18th.
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) sits second in the driver standings and will start from eighth behind Webber. The Finnish driver came second last year after starting back in 11th place.
Coming in with an updated chassis, his teammate Romain Grosjean was hoping for a higher finish, but starts from 11th.
Closing out the top ten, Button crossed the line cheering in a rare season that has seen the McLaren team struggle. Although Brit failed to complete a qualifying lap in Q3, his performances have led the way for the team. His new teammate Sergio Perez starts 12th, the third time in four races he’s been out of the top 10.
The William’s team are hoping for their first points after a strong season last year. Rookie Valterri Bottas managed to out-qualify his more experienced teammate Pastor Maldonado for the second time this season.
Last years race saw Vettel take pole position and the win, followed by Raikkonen's impressive performance and Grosjean's jump to third from seventh. Mark Webber dropped one spot to fourth, while Rosberg held his position for fifth. The race takes place tomorrow morning at 7:55 a.m. (EST) on TSN in Canada, and NBC Sports in the U.S.
Photos: Glenn Dunbar/LAT
