Sebastian Vettel has equalled Nigel Mansell’s season qualifying record, taking the top spot for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit.
The Red Bull Racing world champion took his 14th pole position of the year, beating the weekend dominant McLarens.
The result matches Mansell’s record with Williams from the 1992 F1 season.
In the final Q3 session, Lewis Hamilton set the pace early before team-mate Jenson Button upped the ante. Hamilton responded immediately, but right at the end, Vettel managed a 1m 38.481s.
Australian Red Bull racer Mark Webber couldn’t improve on his second run, leaving him fourth ahead of the Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
The two Ferrari’s will start ahead of the two Mercedes GP and Force India entries. Nico Rosberg lapped his car in 1m 39.773s for seventh ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher. Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta will start ninth and 10th.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, driving for HRT, will start 21st after out-qualifying Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin) and HRT team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Qualifying results; Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:40.478 | 1:38.516 | 1:38.481 | 16 |
| 2 | 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:39.782 | 1:38.434 | 1:38.622 | 15 |
| 3 | 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:40.227 | 1:39.097 | 1:38.631 | 14 |
| 4 | 2 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:40.167 | 1:38.821 | 1:38.858 | 19 |
| 5 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:41.380 | 1:39.058 | 1:39.058 | 16 |
| 6 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:41.592 | 1:39.623 | 1:39.695 | 20 |
| 7 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41.120 | 1:39.420 | 1:39.773 | 17 |
| 8 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:42.605 | 1:40.554 | 1:40.662 | 18 |
| 9 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:40.595 | 1:40.205 | 1:40.768 | 17 |
| 10 | 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:41.064 | 1:40.414 | No time | 15 |
| 11 | 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41.311 | 1:40.874 | 18 | |
| 12 | 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:40.955 | 1:40.919 | 18 | |
| 13 | 18 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:41.737 | 1:41.009 | 15 | |
| 14 | 9 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 1:41.391 | 1:41.079 | 15 | |
| 15 | 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:41.386 | 1:41.162 | 16 | |
| 16 | 16 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41.613 | 1:41.240 | 17 | |
| 17 | 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1:42.258 | 1:41.760 | 13 | |
| 18 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1:42.979 | 11 | ||
| 19 | 21 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1:43.884 | 11 | ||
| 20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44.515 | 9 | ||
| 21 | 22 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | 1:44.641 | 9 | ||
| 22 | 25 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44.699 | 8 | ||
| 23 | 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45.159 | 8 | ||
| 24 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | No time | 0 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Race Guide
