Vettel pips Raikkonen for Bahrain pole

Vettel pips Raikkonen for Bahrain pole

Originally written by Joas van Wingerden. This version is a translation.

Saturday 7 April 2018 18:11

Sebastian Vettel will start his 200th Formula 1 entry on pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel led a Ferrari front-row lockout in Sakhir as Kimi Raikkonen took second. Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton will start ninth on the grid, having suffered a grid penalty for changing his gearbox.

The Scuderia had delivered the best one-lap performance throughout practice and came good on Saturday, with Vettel setting a new lap record at one minute 27.958 seconds.

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Red Bull have looked the team to beat on long-run pace, but Max Verstappen will likely start in 15th after crashing out of the first session.

Valtteri Bottas will start third alongside the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, with Pierre Gasly set to start fifth for Toro Rosso after delivering the most eye-catching Saturday performance.

Both Honda-powered cars qualified ahead of the McLarens, a result that will no doubt have left the Woking squad with red faces as they entertain their Bahraini majority shareholders in Sakhir.

Mercedes had taken the last five pole positions at this event, but the race will be led away by Ferrari red for the first time since 2007.

Raikkonen had enjoyed the greater pace over much of the weekend and was in P1 after the first runs of Q3, with Vettel left second after running wide at the final corner.

But Vettel turned it on when it mattered most, with the 'party mode' of Mercedes unable to match them.

Verstappen and Hamilton cutting through the field should give Sunday's race an intriguing edge, but Vettel looks well-set to add another victory to his season-opening triumph in Australia.

1 and 2! #BahrainGP #Seb5 #Kimi7 #ForzaFerrari pic.twitter.com/aa3YLsSm16 — Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 7, 2018

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - 1:27.958	2. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 1:28.101
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) - 1:28.124	4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:28.220
5. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) - 1:28.398	6. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) - 1:29.329
7. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) - 1:29.358	8. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) - 1:29.570
9. Esteban Ocon (Force India) - 1:29.874	10. Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault) - 1:29.986
11. Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) - 1:30.105	12. Sergio Perez (Force India) - 1:30.156
13. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 1:30.212	14. Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) - 1:30.525
15. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - NO TIME	16. Romain Grosjean (Haas) - 1:30.530
17. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) - 1:31.063	18. Sergey Sirotkin (Williams) - 1:31.414
19. Charles Leclerc (Sauber) - 1:31.420	20. Lance Stroll (Williams) - 1:31.503

More disappointment for McLaren as Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne both failed to get into Q3 for a second-straight race. The disappointment was compounded by the sight of a Honda-powered Gasly making it into the top-10 shootout and Brendon Hartley finishing ahead of them in 11th.

As in Australia, there was a headline crash in qualifying when Verstappen spun into the wall. Late drama after the red flag saw Alonso sneak into Q3 at the expense of Romain Grosjean. Alonso and the Haas set exactly the same time, but the McLaren went through as his lap was set first. Lance Stroll, Charles Leclerc, Sergey Sirotkin and Marcus Ericsson were eliminated along with Grosjean.