Vettel wins Bahrain F1 pole position
MANAMA, April 7, 2018
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel will start his 200th F1 race from pole position after he and Ferrari team-mate Finn Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
The German secured his 51st career pole with a supreme lap in the dying seconds of a tense floodlit qualifying session in which Ferrari were dominant, reported AFP.
"Yes, P1! Pole position," said Vettel.
"That was a lion lap. That was quite intense... I was happy with my first run until I tossed it away in the last corner so I stayed away from that kerb in the second run.
"The car has been excellent here all weekend."
Valtteri Bottas was third fastest for Mercedes behind the two Ferraris, but ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton who has a five-place grid penalty after an overnight gearbox change and starts from ninth, said the report.
That promotes Australian Daniel Ricciardo from fifth to fourth for Red Bull ahead of Frenchman Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso and Dane Kevin Magnussen of Haas.
Nico Hulkenberg was eighth for Renault ahead of Sebastian Ocon in the second Toro Rosso and Carlos Sainz in the second Renault.
"Not ideal - far from ideal in the last run with the traffic," said Raikkonen, the 2007 champion.
"But what can I do? Tomorrow is the main thing - that's when we get the points."
Bottas said: "It felt ok. The laps were getting better, but these guys in the red cars! It's going to be a close race."
It is Ferrari's first pole position in Bahrain since 2007 when Brazilian Felipe Massa turned it into a victory ahead of then-rookie Hamilton, stated the report.
"Not easy," said Hamilton, looking ahead to Sunday's race.
"But I will give it all I can. I wasn't able to get any more from the new tyres at the end and the Ferraris were really the quickest.
"There will be chances to do something with the strategy and I will eke out all the performance and strength I can from the car."
After another hot day, the floodlit qualifying session began with a minor drama in Q1 when New Zealander Brendon Hartley ran off track and damaged his Toro Rosso's front wing, reported AFP.
Max Verstappen crashed on the exit of Turn Two, losing control as his car slewed across the track and into the barriers.
The session was red-flagged and stopped with more than five minutes to go in the session.
"I'm ok," the Dutch driver told his team, after an initial outburst that was not appropriate for a family audience. Verstappen took a pillion ride back to the pits on a scooter.
Eight minutes later, the session resumed. McLaren's Fernando Alonso squeezed into Q2 by the finest of margins, while Charles Leclerc of Sauber spun and failed to go through.
Out with him went Grosjean, Swede Marcus Ericsson in the second Sauber, Russian Sergey Sirotkin and his Williams team-mate Canadian teenager Lance Stroll, said the report.
German Nico Hulkenberg was eighth for Renault ahead of Frenchman Sebastian Ocon in the second Toro Rosso and Spaniard Carlos Sainz in the second Renault.
Sebastian Vettel produced a flying last lap in qualifying Saturday to take pole for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
The German, the winner of the season-opener in Melbourne, will be joined on the front row by his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Lewis Hamilton produced the fourth fastest time at the floodlit circuit in Sakhir but the Mercedes world champion will start from ninth on the grid after picking up a five-place penalty for gearbox change.
Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas came in third with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo moving up to join the Finn on the second row in place of him.
