Sakhir, 5 April

The Scuderia Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso set the sixth and tenth fastest times in the final part of the first ever night-time qualifying session held in Bahrain. However, the Finn and the Spaniard will start tomorrow’s 57 lap race from fifth and ninth places respectively, thus gaining the clean side of the track advantage. That’s because Daniel Ricciardo, third today in the Red Bull, takes a 10 place grid penalty handed out in Malaysia last Sunday.
Kimi was fifth in Q1, one place ahead of Fernando, with both men having completed a preliminary run on the Medium before switching to the Soft, which would also be the choice for the rest of the afternoon. Q2 was a bit more tense for the crew in the Scuderia Ferrari garage because, while Fernando got through to the top ten shoot-out in fifth place, Kimi took the final tenth place slot. The Finn then got a good final lap, while the Spaniard was mystified by a drop off in performance that will need to be investigated.
The strongest team of the moment monopolised the front row, with Nico Rosberg piloting his Mercedes to pole, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The second row tomorrow will see Valtteri Bottas promoted to third with Force India’s Sergio Perez alongside him.
This was the first Bahrain night time qualifying, but the organisers today confirmed that the after dark format will continue in future years, as the late start is proving popular for spectators for whom Sunday is a working day in this part of the world. Those who come tomorrow will hopefully be treated to an interesting race, as this is the first venue of the season where fuel saving should play an important role. Plus, tyre performance suggests that best strategy involves making three trips down pit lane to take on new rubber is quickest, unless degradation is low enough to try for just two.