Defending champion lewis Hamilton will start the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position for the first time after clinching his fourth straight pole of the season on Saturday, well ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton, who leads Formula One after winning two of three races so far, finished 0.411 seconds ahead of Vettel, and 0.558 clear of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who began the previous two Bahrain GPs from pole.
“I feel very happy, coming into the weekend that was the target - to try and really master the track,” Hamilton said after securing his 42nd career pole. Hamilton is odds-on to win his ninth race in the past 11 in Sunday’s grand prix under floodlights, where the cooler evening temperatures are better suited to his Mercedes car. But having lost to Vettel’s Ferrari in Kuala lumpur, Hamilton remains cautious.
“Ferrari are very quick and they will be very hard to beat tomorrow with a great race pace,” he said. “We’ll be taking all the measures we can to make the tires (last) as long as they can.” Hamilton won last year’s Bahrain GP after starting second on the grid, and Rosberg will have his work cut out on Sunday to win his first race of a frustrating campaign. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen qualified in fourth place, confirming the two teams have the dominant cars of the season.
It was another miserable day for Mclaren, with Jenson Button struggling in the afternoon’s third and final practice session, and then sustaining a power cut early in qualifying. Other Mclaren in Fernando Alonso went out after Q2 after not making past Q3 in Malaysia and China. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg qualified eighth with time of 1:34:450 and Sergio Perez will take 11th place on the grid after time of 1:34.704.