Nico Rosberg made it two poles in two races for Mercedes with a dominant display at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Rosberg’s pole was assured when he set a dominant time of 1:32.330 during the final runs in Q3. Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull, doing his only run in Q3, could not match it and slotted into second, two-tenths down. The consolation for Vettel was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso aborting his lap after a small error, the Spaniard having to settle for the third place secured by an earlier run.

Ferrari driver claims top spot in FP3 as Hamilton hits trouble as session ends.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso beat Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel to the top of the timesheet in the final free practice session ahead of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Finn fastest on medium tyres ahead of Red Bull Racing duo Webber and Vettel.

Kimi Raikkonen took over at the top of the timesheets ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Lotus driver logging a lap of 1:34.154 in the weekend’s second free practice session.

Using the medium Pirelli tyre compound, the Finn rose to the top of the timesheet as the session neared the hour mark. With most of the field opting for long runs on the hard compound in the final half hour the Lotus driver’s time remained the benchmark.

Double Bahrain Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa laid down an early marker for Ferrari in Sakhir with the fastest time in the opening practice session at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The Brazilian finished just over seven hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, himself a three-time winner of this race.