Qualifying: Vettel on pole for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari and McLaren

The 2010 season has officially begun and for the first qualification of the year, it’s Sebastian Vettel who takes pole position. The German was the fastest, in the Red Bull Renault and leads by a few tenths over the two Ferraris of Massa and Alonso. McLaren and Mercedes are predictably in the top 4 while Renault and Force India play the surprise guests!

Fernando Alonso seemed poised to secure pole position after this morning’s practice session. The Spaniard recorded the fastest time in Q1 before Vettel ultimately took the best time in Q2. As Q3 started, half a dozen drivers had hopes of claiming the first pole position of 2010… and yet, the game unfolded among three.

The teams and drivers must indeed determine their strategy for the race. This must be definitive and cannot change from Q3 onwards. Vettel and the two Ferrari drivers aimed for pole position by using relatively low fuel loads compared to the other 7 drivers in Q3. In the end, it was Vettel who recorded the best time, 141 milliseconds ahead of Felipe Massa. Fernando Alonso, for his part, is third.

Behind, Hamilton (McLaren) moves into the top 5 with Rosberg (Mercedes). The German is ahead of his teammate, none other than the seven-time Formula 1 world champion: Michael Schumacher. “Schumi,” making his return to competition after three years of absence, is indeed 7th, separated from Rosberg by three-tenths and Webber’s Red Bull Renault. Button is 8th and the last of the four leading teams.

Renault and Force India, for their part, are challengers. Kubica’s R30 is ranked 8th and thus advances to Q3 in the first race of the year. The same goes for Sutil’s VMJ-02. Both drivers did not attempt to achieve pole position and will start on hard tires tomorrow.

Eliminated in Q2, the Williams and Sauber are close to Renault and Force India. Two groups seem to have formed, with the leaders (McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull) on one side and the challengers with Renault, Sauber, Force India and Williams on the other. This is reflected in the timesheet and the starting grid. There is also a group composed of the four last teams on the field, mostly recently created, with Virgin, Lotus, HRT and, surprisingly, Toro Rosso.

The Toro Rossos are only 15th and 18th. Buemi alone managed to enter Q2. This is also the case for Petrov’s Renault, 17th for his first qualifying in Formula 1, and Hülkenberg, 13th.

Reminder: During the first part of the qualifying rounds, the top 17 qualify for Q2. At the end of Q2, the top 10 qualify for Q3, thus eliminating 7 drivers. In Q3, the remaining 10 drivers compete for pole position.

Results of the Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying: Saturday, March 13, 2010: