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Vettel claims Bahrain pole
Formula 1, 12:51, March 13, 2010 ,
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel has grabbed pole position for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with Michael Schumacher in seventh.
The German produced a fastest lap of one minute 54.101 seconds to claim the sixth pole of his 44 race career, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa second - just 0.141 seconds behind.
The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso will start from third on the grid, with Lewis Hamilton fourth, Nico Rosberg fifth and Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber qualifying in sixth spot.
World champion Jenson Button will start in eighth position in the second McLaren with Renault's Robert Kubica ninth and Adrian Sutil 10th for Force India.
Vettel was delighted with his performance on Saturday and admitted that he had not expected to be starting on the front of the grid.
"It's a big surprise," he confessed. "In winter testing no-one really knew where they were, although it was clear we were pretty strong, but close to each other.
"Yesterday wasn't as good as we hoped, so it was a long night for the mechanics, but everyone was keen this morning to push.
"I knew we had a great car, but you have to get it together, so I'm very happy to be on pole. It's a very nice feeling."