One spellbinding attraction of Lewis Hamilton is that he lives his career on the very edge. When it pays off, he is a hero.
But on Saturday, straining for supremacy under the desert sky, he slipped off the track on his final qualifying lap and missed out on pole position.
That accolade, ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, went to his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who was three-tenths of a second faster. 'Lewis has gone off,' he was told over the radio. 'You are safe. Well done, pole position.'
Eyes on the prize: Nico Rosberg will start Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position
Frontrunner: Rosberg denied British team-mate Hamilton a hat-trick of poles for the season so far
It was the first time this season that Rosberg, the championship leader having won the opening race of the season in Australia and finished second behind Hamilton in Malaysia last week, had beaten his old friend in qualifying. He held a single finger up behind Hamilton's head as they posed for pictures afterwards.
The beaten man tried his best to raise a smile as the cameras clicked
but it looked an understandably forced gesture made for form's sake.
He
is always most annoyed when he is responsible for an error. This was a
case in point, for the British driver had been dominant in practice and
surely realised that by locking up at the first corner of the last lap
he had denied himself a probable third consecutive pole position. 'You can't always get it right,' he sighed.
Fastest three: Hamilton, Rosberg and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo were the quickest in qualifying
All class: Rosberg impressed on the Bahrain International Circuit despite trailing Hamilton through practice
His
mistake means Rosberg will start as favourite on the track where his
career began nine seasons ago by his setting the fastest lap for
Williams. The race would appear to be nicely set up.
'It has just worked well through the weekend,' said the German. 'I have found my way, made progress and resolved some issues.
'The
challenge this weekend is that free practice was in such hot conditions
and you have to guess what is needed in the cold conditions for
qualifying.'
What he
did not mention was that he roared to pole despite having badly cut his
big toe when his left foot came into collision with a rock while running
in Dubai. His left foot, we note, only his braking foot.
Brave face: Hamilton shows no disappointment after his team-mate snatched the front spot from him
Bright lights: Hamilton winds up his Mercedes in the marginally cooler night air in Bahrain
Daniel
Ricciardo again performed brilliantly in his Red Bull, pressing his
claims as the early revelation of the season by finishing third fastest,
albeit a second off Rosberg's mark. However, the 10-place grid penalty
Ricciardo carries over for being released unsafely in the pits in
Malaysia condemns him to start 13th.
The poor boy, disqualified in Australia, is on an awful streak of bad luck.
'My
season has been going well but I don't have the points to show for it,'
he said. 'I don't need to be conservative tomorrow, but to go for more
points.'
It was a good
day for Williams, with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez due to start
third and fourth after Ricciardo's penalty is taken into consideration.
Jenson Button, of McLaren will line up in sixth place.
Off track, more discussions to discuss the quieter engine noise are planned for Sunday.
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