Lewis Hamilton has not only brought the best out of Mercedes this year but also given fresh impetus to his team-mate, Nico Rosberg. For the second time in his 132-race career Rosberg won pole position here for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
He has also often been the quicker Mercedes driver in practice this season, though Hamilton has beaten him in qualifying in the three previous races (the Englishman has come third, fourth and first on the gird to the German's sixth, sixth and fourth). On Saturday, though, Rosberg was too quick for everyone and it was the first time since 1955 that Mercedes had won back-to-back poles. He won his only other pole in China last year, when he went on to win the race.
It was a small surprise, after the difficulties Mercedes had earlier in the week. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was the favourite for first prize after dominating in the morning practice run and looking sure-footed in Q1. It will be an even bigger surprise if Rosberg wins. This hot track has a voracious appetite for rear tyres and Mercedes are not as good as some when it comes to conserving their rubber.
"We will not be as quick as we were in qualifying compared to everyone else," Rosberg said. "It will be much more difficult. It was not clear before [qualifying] who had the quickest car, especially over one lap.
"The team worked well last night to improve the car as we were struggling. It is a fantastic result, great for tomorrow, but tomorrow will be a tough day with rear tyre degradation."
The encouraging news for Rosberg, if you believe in such things, is that for the past five years in Bahrain Rosberg has finished where he has started – since 2007 he has been 10th, eighth, ninth, fifth and fifth on the grid and that is where he ended up in the race.
"On Thursday we were in a difficult situation," he said. "We were not where we wanted to be, or where we were in the last couple of races. Tomorrow the competition will be tough. It's difficult to say if we have enough pace to win but we'll try and I'm looking forward to starting first."
Life will be even tougher for Hamilton. He qualified in fourth but was hit by a five-place grid penalty after having his gearbox replaced before the session and will line up ninth. His gearbox was changed because Mercedes were faced with suspension issues following a tyre problem in the morning.
"It's not been the best of days but we can still do something from there," Hamilton said. "What happened is a concern but I don't know what went on. They're still investigating to find out exactly what happened. But it wasn't a very good situation for us and for me and the team because we had to change the gearbox. But those things happen and there's still a long way to go.
"I just hope to gain as many positions as I can at the start. My best opportunity will be at the first corner at the start. After that it will be damage limitation. I couldn't get the pace Nico did."
Hamilton will start one position ahead of his former team-mate Jenson Button after another exacting day for McLaren, with Sergio Pérez failing to make Q3 and Button just making the final shootout in 10th place, where he came to rest.
The race could be a shootout between Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa third and fourth on the grid, and Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel second and Mark Webber – who had a three-place grid change because of his accident in the last race – seventh. But all anyone really knows is that it will be very hot.