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Vettel Returns To Form; Takes Pole In Bahrain

SAKIR, Bahrain- After having to struggle in the last three rounds, defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel finally found his form Saturday afternoon, to post a pole position time of 1:32:422 for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Bahrain in Sakir. Lewis Hamilton continued his good form by placing second, while Mark Webber returned to the competition by placing third.

“Yes, it feels great and I completely owe it to the team”. Stated Vettel afterwards. “It was not an easy start for us this year, and I think we expect more from ourselves we have been extremely busy working, trimming here and there and finding the perfect solution and trying to go the way forward. The car has felt better all weekend, and I did not have the smoothest qualifying, but I knew when we got the lap, we were going to be in a better place.”

Sergio Perez led things off for Sauber in the opening session, taking the fastest time of 1:33:814, while Jean Eric Vergne for the second race in a row, failed to advance to the next session. But the real talk of the first qualifying period was Caterham driver Heikki Kovalianen, who for the first time this season, advance to the second session by bumping out seven time world champion Michael Schumacher right at the last second, to start the German in 17 th position on race day.

However, the second session saw the grid wait for at least four of the first 15 minutes to return to the track because of the high temperatures on the track, which could lead to tire degradation. So many of the drivers only managed to go out for one lap, to save their compounds which did not seem to work for Kamui Kobyaschi, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, who just missed the top ten by choosing instead to save his tires. Hamilton improved his time and headed the second session with a 1:33:219.

The last session saw a repeat of the previous one, with few cars coming out. But with only a couple of seconds to go, the remaining ten cars came out in force, with Hamilton at the front. The Englishman managed to hold his lead before Vettel topped the timesheets, with Hamilton getting no closer than second and with start the race alongside the German on Sunday, who in turn wins his first pole and his 31 st of his career.

Jenson Button led the rest of the chargers with fourth, while Nico Rosberg, who won the last race in China, could not do any better than fifth. Daniel Riccardo took sixth, his best finish in his Toro Rosso so far. Romain Grosjean continued his form with the Lotus in seventh, while Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Paul Di Resta rounded out the top ten.

For Vettel himself, it was finally a chance to be competitive again. But he remains cautious about race day.

“It is hard for the race here because it is long, and anything can happen. Race pace has been very consistent and I am definitely happy about how the car feels. And I am hoping that we can get the same result tomorrow.” Concluded the World Champion.

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