F1: Back In The Saddle - Vettel Wins Bahrain Pole

Formula 1

F1: Back In The Saddle - Vettel Wins Bahrain Pole

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel picks up his first pole of 2012 on Saturday in Bahrain...

Jared Turner | Posted April 21, 2012 Manama (BHR)

He's back.

Sebastian Vettel, whose struggles relative to his dominant form from 2011 have been well-documented this season, captured his first pole in four attempts this year by taking the top spot in qualifying Saturday at Bahrain International Circuit.

"It obviously feels great," said the reigning and back-to-back World Champion, noting that members of his Red Bull team haven't slept much in recent weeks.

"It wasn't an easy start to the season for us but this is what we expect from ourselves. It's very good to put the car on pole. We owe the result today to the team."

Vettel, who won a F1 record 15 poles last season but had qualified no better than fifth this year, claimed P1 for Sunday's Bahrain GP grid with a lap of 1:32:422 that edged the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton (1:32:520) and the sister Red Bull of Mark Webber (1:32:637).

Hamilton, who leads the World Championship and was seeking his third pole in four attempts this season, was pleased with the effort of his McLaren team in qualifying.

"I'm very happy with the job that we've done," said the 2008 World Champion. "Just been trying to improve the setup throughout the weekend. We just need to keep on pushing."

Neither of the top two Bahrain qualifiers have won yet in 2012, but that could all change on Sunday.

"I'm definitely pleased with how the car feels," said German Vettel. "Hopefully, we'll be able to get the same kind of feeling and result tomorrow."

McLaren's Jenson Button and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg completed the top five.

Positions six through 10 on the grid belong to Daniel Ricciardo, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Paul Di Resta.

In easily the most shocking development of qualifying, Michael Schumacher failed to reach Q3 for the first time in 2012 as his Mercedes failed to even get out of Q1.

Sebastian Vettel reacts to his pole run in Bahrain. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Schumacher, whose worst qualifying result prior to Saturday was fourth in Australia, ended up 18th after a technical gremlin with his Mercedes kept the seven-time World Champion from making a second Q1 run and improving his time.

Qualifying also proved to be a big disappointment for 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, whose Lotus missed Q3 after advancing into the final qualifying segment in both China and Malaysia.

Raikkonen stacked up 11th, three positions ahead of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, whose season of frustration continued. The Brazilian, whose future with Ferrari hangs in the balance, has failed to make it into Q3 even once in four tries this season.

Pastor Maldonado qualified 17th in the Williams but the Venezuelan will drop to 22nd on the grid due to a five-place penalty for a gearbox change.

Three different winners have tasted victory in the season's first three events as Button (Australia), Alonso (Malaysia) and Rosberg (China) have each broken through.

Hamilton's World Championship lead is two points over teammate Button and eight over third-place Alonso headed into race No. 4 on the 20-race F1 calendar.

Qualifying concludes Saturday's on-track proceedings in Bahrain.

SPEED coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix begins at 7:30 a.m. ET Sunday.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.