The English Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), current world champion, prevailed in the qualifications of the Bahrain Grand Prix of Formula 1 and will start on Sunday in the race from the ‘pole position’, while his German teammate Nico Rosberg was second of the session.
It is the 51st pole of Hamilton’s career and the second in a row this year, after the first round of 2016 in Australia, where Rosberg later won the race and Hamilton was second. As in Melbourne a fortnight ago, the second row of the grid will be ‘100% Ferrari’, with Sebastian Vettel (3rd) alongside Kimi Raikkonen (4th).
Hamilton, three times world champion, signed his best lap with a time of one minute, 29 seconds and 493 thousandths of a second, 77 thousandths better than Rosberg, who had achieved the best time of Friday’s free trials, and half a second better than Vettel.
“It is not an easy weekend for me, I am with less rhythm than Nico, but I have managed to do a good lap at one point, which has been my best lap since Friday,” the Englishman cautiously stated in a conference of press.
Hamilton then received a “reprimand” from the race management, who summoned him at the end of the day to explain why he made a small reversal in the ‘pits’, something not allowed by the regulations. There was no penalty for positions on the grid.
In the third row, Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), fifth, will be accompanied by another Finn, Valtteri Bottas (Williams), sixth of this day.
Hamilton improved his 2015 pole position time in Bahrain by three seconds. Huge progress in just one year, due, he said, to different weather conditions, better performing Pirelli tires and to “Development” of his car, the Mercedes W07 Hybrid, in the last twelve months.
The great absentee of this Grand Prix is the Spanish Fernando Alonso (McLaren), due to the serious accident suffered in Australia. His temporary replacement, young Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne, achieved a creditable twelfth place in the rankings.
Among the Latin Americans, the best was the Brazilian Felipe Massa (Williams), seventh. The Mexican Esteban Gutiérrez (Haas) was thirteenth and will start from the seventh line, while his compatriot Sergio Pérez (Force India) was eighteenth and will start very late, from the ninth line.
“It’s a shame because the car responded well and we had the potential to get both of our cars into the top ten. I will do my best to recover », admitted ‘Checo’ Pérez. AFP