Mark Webber has endured a difficult qualifying session at the Yas Marina Circuit for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Webber’s Red Bull Racing team-mate Sebastian Vettel has taken pole, championship leader Fernando Alonso took third while the Australian will start the race from fifth.
It is Vettel’s 10th pole position of the year.
Webber was placed in fourth until Alonso skipped from fifth to third, dropping Webber on the third row. He will start alongside the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
The McLarens Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will take up second and fourth on the grid. Hamilton was involved in a clash with Massa in the second qualifying session.
If the drivers finished the race in the qualifying order, Alonso would win the world championship.
Vettel said at the press conference that he is looking forward to the race.
“We start from pole, it couldn’t be better,” he said.
“We went out last and we did. It. It was a very good job by everybody and we’ll go out tomorrow and see what happens.”
Qualifying result, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:40.318 | 1:39.874 | 1:39.394 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:40.335 | 1:40.119 | 1:39.425 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:40.170 | 1:40.311 | 1:39.792 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:40.877 | 1:40.014 | 1:39.823 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:40.690 | 1:40.074 | 1:39.925 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:40.942 | 1:40.323 | 1:40.202 |
| 7 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:40.904 | 1:40.476 | 1:40.203 |
| 8 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 1:41.222 | 1:40.452 | 1:40.516 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1:40.231 | 1:40.060 | 1:40.589 |
| 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:41.018 | 1:40.658 | 1:40.901 |
| 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1:41.336 | 1:40.780 | |
| 12 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41.045 | 1:40.783 | |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:41.473 | 1:40.914 | |
| 14 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 1:41.409 | 1:41.113 | |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1:41.015 | 1:41.418 | |
| 16 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1:41.681 | 1:41.642 | |
| 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:41.707 | 1:41.738 | |
| 18 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:41.824 | ||
| 19 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:43.516 | ||
| 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1:43.712 | ||
| 21 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44.095 | ||
| 22 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:44.510 | ||
| 23 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45.085 | ||
| 24 | Christian Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 1:45.296 |
