German pace ace Vettel leaves rivals for dust to claim pole in season-opening spectacular

Young German Sebastian Vettel gave returning legend Michael Schumacher and three other world champions an early wake-up call by seizing pole position for today’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old rising star picked up where he left off last season, when he won the closing race in Abu Dhabi, by clocking a best lap of one minute, 54.101 seconds to take the prime starting position in yesterday’s final qualifying.

And Vettel - who claimed his sixth pole - revealed he was surprised - but delighted - with pole, but claimed the success was down to his bleary-eyed team-mates.

“I am happy to be on pole, but it is thanks to the team,” he said.

“They have done a great job and not had much sleep for the last few weeks. “For me it is a big surprise and it is clear there are four teams out in front with close performances. So it is thanks to the long night of work the boys did that we have the speed and pole position. “It is going to be a long race, the first of 19, and it’s not going to be a sprint. It will be an endurance event. “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.”

But Vettel also sounded a note of caution after revealing his uncertainty about how new rules - drivers in the top ten have to start on the same tyres in which they qualified late on, and with the heavy fuel tanks - would effect the race.

“We all don’t know what is going to happen. It could be exciting or it could be very boring,” added Vettel.

“It’s a difficult situation to be in. The first part of the race is crucial because you need to take care of the tyres, so no-one really knows.”

Vettel’s time was one-tenth of a second better than second-placed Brazilian Felipe Massa, of Ferrari, making his first race weekend appearance since an horrific accident in Hungary last August.

It was also more than a second quicker than fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and 1.4 seconds better than Schumacher’s best Q3 lap for Mercedes - a demonstration of pace that showed Vettel and Red Bull will start today’s 49-lap race with a clear advantage in raw speed.

And Vettel also congratulated Massa, a double winner in Bahrain in the past, for his strong comeback from life-threatening injuries sustained in qualifying for last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

“Big respect for what he has achieved,” he said. “First race, he’s back and bang, bang, bang. It’s good to have him back.”
And Massa revealed he was also happy with his performance.

“It’s definitely great to be back and being competitive. I feel really happy to be back after such a difficult time,” said Massa.

“After watching the races on TV, it is much better to be sat in the car, and after what happened last season, this is a good start for the team. It’s great for the guys. “I feel really positive starting from second, but Red Bull and some other teams are strong, so let’s wait and see. But I’m really optimistic.”

Alonso seemed relatively happy enough with his third on his debut for Ferrari, commenting: “Everything has been great so far. We’re competitive in all conditions, and to be second and third is a great achievement from everybody in the factory in Maranello. “They’ve been flat out since November day and night, so this is a real achievement. Two cars in the top three shows we have a very good car.”

Elsewhere, Schumacher, the seven time champion returning at the age of 41 after a three-year absence, qualified seventh for Mercedes.

Britain’s world champion Jenson Button will be alongside the former Ferrari ace in eighth place after just sneaking his McLaren into the final phase of qualifying.

Germany’s Nico Rosberg qualified fifth, ahead of team mate Schumacher, with Vettel’s Australian team mate Mark Webber sixth.

Virgin Racing were the best of the new teams with Germany’s Timo Glock qualifying 19th. Lotus pair Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were 20th and 21st.