F1 2013 Bahrain GP Qualifying: Nico Rosberg claims surprise pole for Mercedes

Vettel second as Hamilton demoted five places for gearbox change

Nico Rosberg: Claimed a shock second career pole

Nico Rosberg confounded pre-qualifying expectations with a brilliant Q3 performance in Bahrain to give Mercedes back-to-back pole positions and escape from the shadow of new team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the first time

Most observers had predicted the battle for the fourth pole of the season at the desert venue would be an exclusive three-way affair between practice pacesetters Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus with Mercedes' W04 appearing be slightly off for pace for just about the first time this season just seven days on from Hamilton's first pole for the team in China.

However, with Hamilton's chances of repeating last week's result already scuppered by a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change following a suspension failure triggered by a tyre delamination in P3, Rosberg seized the opportunity to be the team's lead runner with sensational out-of-the-blue laps in both Q2 and Q3 to claim just the second pole of his career.
Rosberg's advantage over the pole favourites, led by World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel - back on the frontrow after perhaps unwisely sacrificing grid position in Shanghai - was in excess of two tenths of a second while Hamilton was nearly half a second back in the sister car in fourth. That will translate to an even-less palatable ninth on Sunday's grid once his penalty is taken into account.
Rosberg's weekend has taken on an entirely new complexion, although the 27-year-old himself admitted pole had come as something of a surprise to him too.

"A little bit [of a surprise], yes. It wasn't really clear before who was the quickest car over one lap. I was a little bit closer this morning already so I was a bit happier than yesterday for sure," he said.
"We worked really well as a team overnight to improve the car because yesterday we were really struggling, so that's gone well. That's fantastic result and great for tomorrow.
"But tomorrow's going to be a tough race for sure with rear-tyre degradation, so a lot can still happen."
Vettel is certainly well positioned to increase his early-season points advantage from the front row but Fernando Alonso will strongly fancy his own chances of translating third on the grid into his the win for the second weekend on the spin, the Spaniard heading up row two despite abandoning his final lap following a handful of mistakes.

Hamilton and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber took fourth and fifth respectively on the timesheet but both will drop down the order owing to respective five- and three-place penalties, meaning Felipe Massa steps up to form an ominous-looking all-Ferrari row two.
The Brazilian, having struggled to match Alonso throughout Saturday, rolled the strategy dice in Q3 by taking to the slightly more durable hard tyres and could bring himself right into play on Sunday with a longer first stint than the three cars ahead.
But arguably qualifying's biggest winners were Force India as they took the impressive scalps of both Lotus and McLaren before benefiting from the two penalties ahead to snare row three with Paul di Resta to start from a career-high fifth and Adrian Sutil alongside. Webber drops behind them to seventh.

Lotus's lack of single-lap pace certainly proved the biggest mystery of all as Kimi Raikkonen produced one of his more scruffy Saturday afternoons to lap the best part of a second off the pace in Q3, although he too picks up a place courtesy of Hamilton's demotion.
The Enstone team had already earlier lost Romain Grosjean in Q2, the Frenchman's somewhat anonymous start to the season only gaining some brief attention when mistakes on his final lap were highlighted.
McLaren's qualifying struggles have become more of a running theme but, in what they hope is their final struggle to reach Q3 before major updates are brought to their car for Spain, Jenson Button completed his fourth straight defeat of under-pressure team-mate Sergio Perez to sneak into the top ten.
Another man under early-season scrutiny is the Mexican's Sauber replacement Esteban Gutierrez who again found Q1 progression beyond him for the third time in four attempts, ensuring he will start from the very back of Sunday's grid owing to his five-place grid penalty for ploughing into Sutil in China.