Double World Champion Sebastian Vettel signalled his intent to take a third world title today by securing pole position for tomorrow’s controversial Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver blitzed the desert track in Sakhir to return to the top spot for the first time since December.

Ahead of qualifying, Mercedes had looked the team to beat with Nico Rosberg setting fastest times in both FP2 on Friday and FP3 on Saturday morning just two hours before qualifying started. However, things began to go wrong for the outfit that dominated so convincingly in Shanghai last weekend when 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher was eliminated in the first round of qualifying. He starts the race in 18^th just ahead of Jean Eric Vergne in his Toro Rosso, both of them remarkably outqualified by the flying Caterham of Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen. The jovial Finn didn’t set a time in Q2 to save tyres for the race on Sunday, likewise Williams’ Pastor Maldonado who slips back five places on the grid thanks to a gearbox change.

Q2 once again proved the undoing of Felipe Massa, the Brazilian at one point looking like beating team-mate Fernando Alonso, but the 2005/2006 World Champion manhandled his underperforming Ferrari round to make the cut whilst Massa didn’t make it in time and has to settle for 14^th on the grid. Joining him in the midfield is Kimi Raikkonen who was disappointed to wind up 11^th ahead of Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India. Force India had missed FP2 on Friday as a consequence of leaving the circuit early to avoid clashes between Police and protestors that had nearly injured four team members earlier in the week after they were caught in a bomb attack. Despite this, Britain’s Paul Di Resta safely made it through to the final top ten of qualifying, but was content to start 10^th after setting no time to save tyres for the race. Bruno Senna ended a frustrating day for Williams when he failed to make it into the top ten and lined up 15^th.

Into the final shootout, Rosberg still appeared to have an edge over close rivals Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and the Red Bull duo of Vettel and Mark Webber. Mclaren initially set the pace as they and the Red Bulls elected to set a lap time on a set of used soft Pirelli tyres, with Hamilton shading Button by less than a tenth of a second to take the provisional front row. Vettel failed to make the most of his early run and was at first 4^th behind Webber. In the dying minutes, track temperatures began to fall dramatically and whilst Hamilton and Vettel made it across the line on fresh tyres to take the front row, Button and Webber were crippled by the sudden lack of grip. Both locked brakes into the notoriously tight turns 9 and 10 which effectively ended their chances of challenging, and although Webber clung on for 3^rd on the grid, Button abandoned his lap and headed for the pits. Shanghai winner Nico Rosberg faded to 5^th, only just ahead of the stunning Daniel Ricciardo and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, both of whom start ahead of Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso who elected not to set a lap time. Vettel’s time of 1:32:422 was just 0.098 faster than Hamilton, but it was enough to give him the pole position both he and his team badly needed.

The real test will be on Sunday as he bids to win his first Grand Prix since India in October last year.

Bahrain GP Provisional Grid

1. Sebastian Vettel       DEU       Red Bull Renault                               1:32:422
2. Lewis Hamilton         GBR       Mclaren Mercedes                           1:32:520
3. Mark Webber            AUS       Red Bull Renault                               1:32:637
4. Jenson Button           GBR       Mclaren Mercedes                          1:32:711
5. Nico Rosberg             DEU       Mercedes Petronas AMG            1:32:821
6. Daniel Ricciardo        AUS       Scuderia Toro Rosso                       1:32:912
7. Romain Grosjean     FRA        Lotus Renault                                    1:33.008
8. Sergio Perez               MEX       Sauber Ferrari                                   1:33:394
9. Fernando Alonso     ESP         Ferrari                                                   No Time
10. Paul Di Resta              GBR       Force India Mercedes                    No Time
11. Kimi Raikkonen         FIN         Lotus Renault                                    1:33:789
12. Kamui Kobayashi      JAP         Sauber Ferrari                                   1:33:806
13. Nico Hulkenberg      DEU       Force India Mercedes                    1:33:807
14. Felipe Massa              BRA        Ferrari                                                   1:33:912
15. Bruno Senna              BRA        Williams Renault                               1:34:017
16. Heikki Kovalainen    FIN         Caterham Renault                           1:36:312
17. Pastor Maldonado   VEN       Williams Renault                               No Time*
18. Michael Schumacher DEU    Mercedes Petronas AMG            1:34:865
19. Jean-Eric Vergne      FRA        Scuderia Toro Rosso                       1:35:014
20. Vitaly Petrov              RUS        Caterham Renault                           1:35:823
21. Charles Pic                  FRA        Marussia Cosworth                         1:37:683
22. Pedro De La Rosa     ESP         HRT Cosworth                                   1:37:883
23. Timo Glock                  DEU       Marussia Cosworth                         1:37:905
24. Narain Karthikeyan IND        HRT Cosworth                                   1:38:314

*Maldonado 5-place grid penalty for gearbox change. Starts 22^nd.

Race Starts 13:00 GMT on Sunday 22^nd April. Live coverage available on TV via Sky Sports F1 HD and highlights on BBC One at 17:20. Live radio coverage available from BBC radio 5 Live.