German driver Nico Rosberg will start from pole for the seventh time in his career after posting the fastest time in qualifying for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old – whose sole win in Formula One came in last year’s Chinese Grand Prix – timed 1min 32.330sec on Saturday to give Mercedes their second successive pole position.

Teammate Lewis Hamilton started from pole in China last Sunday.

Rosberg edged out Red Bull’s three-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel (1:32.548) while Spain’s two-time world champion and Shanghai winner Fernando Alonso will start from third on the grid in his Ferrari.

Alonso will start the race alongside teammate Felipe Massa. The Brazilian moves two places up from sixth in qualifying because Hamilton and Red Bull’s Mark Webber lose three (causing an accident in China) and five places (gearbox change Saturday) respectively on the grid.

Webber will start from seventh, with Kimi Raikkonen in a Lotus eighth, while Hamilton will be in ninth position alongside Jenson Button’s McLaren.

Force India’s Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil will share the third row.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo will begin from 13th in his Toro Rosso.

Vettel tops the championship with 52 points from three races, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen (49), Alonso (43) and Hamilton (40).