Nico Rosberg will start tomorrow's Bahrain Grand Prix in pole position as a result of his performance during qualifying this afternoon.

The 27-year-old had never previously set the quickest time in qualification anywhere else other than in China, but he will now lead the grid on Sunday afternoon.

The Mercedes driver headed into the third qualifying sector with the quickest time and he went on to ensure that he held on to that position by posting a time of 1:32.330.

He was followed by three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who finished 0.254 seconds behind his fellow German.

Third was Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, while Lewis Hamilton managed to post the fourth-fastest time. However, a gearbox change at the end of the final practice session resulted in a five-place grid penalty for Rosberg's Mercedes teammate, which means that he will begin the race in ninth.

Grid for Bahrain GP

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
4. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
5. Paul di Resta (Force India)
6. Adrian Sutil (Force India)
7. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus Renault)
9. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
10. Jenson Button (McLaren)
11. Romain Grosjean (Lotus Renault)
12. Sergio Perez (McLaren)
13. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
14. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
15. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
16. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
17. Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
18. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber)
19. Charles Pic (Caterham)
20. Jules Bianchi (Marussia)
21. Giedo van der Garde (Caterham)
22. Max Chilton (Marussia)