Sebastian Vettel took a storming pole position in Bahrain, giving him prime position for the start of the 2010 season.
Lucas di Grassi was the first man out on track in his Virgin, for the first qualifying session of 2010. He was followed by teammate Timo Glock and then Fernando Alonso.
There were doubts over Karun Chandhok’s participation, but thanks to new rules introduced for 2010, drivers can compete in qualifying without having taken part in practice. He managed to get out and set seven laps, his quickest time a 2:04.904, just under two seconds behind his teammate.
The newcomers filled the bottom six places as expected, with Alguersuari taking the final drop-out position.
Q2 saw both Williams drop out, whilst Jenson Button struggled for pace, narrowly making P10 and just missing the drop-zone.
Both Sauber drivers missed out on Q3, despite their strong showing in testing.
Sebastian Vettel took pole position, ahead of Felipe Massa who managed to out qualify Fernando Alonso, who many expected to take pole.
Lewis Hamilton took P4, whilst Button again struggled for pace in P8 just behind Michael Schumacher who’s teammate, Nico Rosberg managed fifth.
Qualifying Times:
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:55.029 | 1:53.883 | 1:54.101 | 14 |
| 02 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:55.313 | 1:54.331 | 1:54.242 | 16 |
| 03 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:54.612 | 1:54.172 | 1:54.608 | 20 |
| 04 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:55.341 | 1:54.707 | 1:55.217 | 19 |
| 05 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:55.463 | 1:54.682 | 1:55.241 | 13 |
| 06 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:55.298 | 1:54.318 | 1:55.284 | 13 |
| 07 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:55.593 | 1:55.105 | 1:55.524 | 15 |
| 08 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:55.715 | 1:55.168 | 1:55.672 | 17 |
| 09 | R. Kubica | Renault | 1:55.511 | 1:54.963 | 1:55.885 | 17 |
| 10 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:55.213 | 1:54.996 | 1:56.309 | 16 |
| 11 | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:55.969 | 1:55.330 | – | 13 |
| 12 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | 1:55.628 | 1:55.653 | – | 13 |
| 13 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | 1:56.375 | 1:55.857 | – | 14 |
| 14 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | 1:56.428 | 1:56.237 | – | 13 |
| 15 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:56.189 | 1:56.265 | – | 14 |
| 16 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:56.541 | 1:56.270 | – | 13 |
| 17 | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:56.167 | 1:56.619 | – | 14 |
| 18 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:57.071 | – | – | 6 |
| 19 | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:59.728 | – | – | 7 |
| 20 | J. Trulli | Lotus | 1:59.852 | – | – | 6 |
| 21 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 2:00.313 | – | – | 7 |
| 22 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | 2:00.587 | – | – | 7 |
| 23 | B. Senna | Hispania | 2:03.240 | – | – | 6 |
| 24 | K. Chandhok | Hispania | 2:04.904 | – | – | 7 |
(All timing unofficial)
