Mark Webber has ended team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s streak of pole positions during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The two Red Bull pilots completed just one run each in Q3, with the Australian shading the reigning World Champion by 0.2s.
Vettel, who did not appear to have KERS during qualifying after spending much of Practice 3 in the garage with an electrical problem, will start second on the grid, ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso left his Q3 run to the very final moment to take fourth from Jenson Button.
Vitaly Petrov, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado and Michael Schumacher rounded out the top 10.
While Maldonado’s first Q3 showing was a boost for Williams, team-mate Rubens Barrichello had a disappointing session – bowing out in Q1 thanks to a gearbox issue.
Nick Heidfeld was not able to take part in the session after his car stopped and caught fire in Practice 3.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:23.619 | 1:21.773 | 1:20.981 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:24.142 | 1:21.540 | 1:21.181 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:24.370 | 1:22.148 | 1:21.961 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:23.485 | 1:22.813 | 1:21.964 |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:24.428 | 1:22.050 | 1:21.996 |
| 6 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:23.069 | 1:22.948 | 1:22.471 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:23.507 | 1:22.569 | 1:22.599 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:23.506 | 1:23.026 | 1:22.888 |
| 9 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1:23.406 | 1:22.854 | 1:22.952 |
| 10 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:22.960 | 1:22.671 | |
| 11 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:23.962 | 1:23.231 | |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:24.209 | 1:23.367 | |
| 13 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:24.049 | 1:23.694 | |
| 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:23.656 | 1:23.702 | |
| 15 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1:25.874 | 1:25.403 | |
| 16 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:24.332 | 1:26.126 | |
| 17 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:24.648 | 1:26.571 | |
| 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1:26.521 | ||
| 19 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:26.910 | ||
| 20 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:27.315 | ||
| 21 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1:27.809 | ||
| 22 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:27.908 | ||
| 23 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:28.556 | ||
| 24 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault |
This weekend sees a V8 Supercars/Formula One double-header. See below for Speedcafe.com’s Race Guides for insight into all of the weekend’s action.
