Rosberg beats Vettel to take Sakhir pole

Rosberg pipped reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull and Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari to claim only the second pole of his 132-race career for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.

It is the first time since last year's race in China the 27-year-old will lead away the field, and the first time this season he has out-qualified team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Grid Penalty for Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has been hit with a five-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton suffered a left-rear tyre failure on his Mercedes on his in-lap at the end of final practice, which also resulted in damage to the suspension.

As a consequence of changing the left-rear corner of the car, the team have also had to replace the gearbox, resulting in the grid penalty.

Although on pole position a week ago in China, from where the 28-year-old finished third, balance issues have affected Hamilton so far this weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Hamilton finished fourth quickest in final practice, just over two tenths of a second behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton is the third driver to face a penalty for Sunday's race as Mark Webber was handed a three-place drop after colliding with Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne in Shanghai.

Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez will also drop five places following qualifying after he ran into the back of Force India's Adrian Sutil in the same race.