Bahrain GP: Bottas leads Massa in Qualifying

Team Summary:
Q1: With a rush of drivers coming out for the first sixteen minute period the Williams pair would hold off before going out to get clean air. The first eliminations would occur after the first six minutes. After the first runs Rosberg would be quickest with a 1m:31.325 followed by Hamilton and Vettel. After their first runs Valtteri and Felipe were fourth and sixth. Both would pit with Nasr the first to drop out, followed by Haryanto, Palmer, Magnussen. Ricciardo would move up to third seeing Valtteri and Felipe now fifth and ninth. With the end of the period they would end the period in fifth and twelfth. Perez and Ericsson were the next to move make the cut. Both Williams drivers were easily through to the next period.

Q2: Both Williams cars would come out early in the second fifteen minute period. Again the drivers would have six minutes before eliminations would start. A 1m:30.559 from Raikkonen with Hamilton moving ahead with a 1m:30.535. Rosberg was second but Vettel would move ahead. Valtteri and Felipe were fifth and sixth after their first runs. First to be eliminated was Kvyat joined by Button, Gutierrez, Vandoorne, and Sainz. With the final minutes starting both Williams cars would come out of their pits running on new supersoft tyres. Felipe would pit after one lap while Felipe would do three.

Q3: The final period would get underway with both Williams drivers out early. A 1m:30.065 from Vettel with Raikkonen second and Hamilton third. But Rosberg would go quickest with a 1m:29.897. Valtteri would be fifth with a 1m:31.153 with Felipe sixth. But Ricciardo would move into fifth seeing the Williams cars sixth and seventh. Mercedes and Ferrari would go back out again. The Williams pair would start sixth and seventh with just 0.002 separating the pair. Hamilton would go quickest in the first two sectors and would finish with a 1m:29.493 to be quickest. Rosberg would finish with a 1m:29.570 to be second followed by Vettel and Raikkonen.

Felipe Massa:
Q1: Felipe would follow his team-mate out for his first run. Felipe would set a 1m:32.045 to be fifth but this would become sixth. Felipe would be running the new front nose and wing having used it in FP3. Felipe had dropped to eighth as Button and Grosjean moved ahead of him. This would become ninth with four minutes remaining. Both Torro Rosso cars would move ahead of Felipe, joined by Hulkenberg seeing him now twelfth.

Q2: His first run in the second period was a 1m:31.374 to be behind his team-mate running on the supersoft tyre. He would drop to seventh behind Ricciardo. Felipe would come out in the final moments of the period complaining about the bodywork of his car.

Q3: Felipe would follow his teammate out on new supersoft tyres. Felipe would be quickest in the middle sector but would be beaten by Vettel. Felipe would finish in sixth with a 1m:31.155 but would drop to seventh. Felipe would be the first to drop out.

Valtteri Bottas:
Q1: Valtteri was out first running on the supersoft tyre and his first run would see a 1m:31.672 from the Williams. Valtteri was still in his pit with four minutes remaining. He would remain there for the rest of the period easily making it through.

Q2: Valtteri would set a 1m:30.995 to be fifth after his first run on the supersoft tyre. He would pit remaining there for the majority of the period but would come out again for a final run on a new set of supersoft tyres.

Q3: Valtteri would be out first for the final period and would set a 1m:31.153 to be fifth. Like Felipe he would drop one place to be sixth after his first run. Valtteri would only do one run before being dropped.