Webber takes pole In Spain

After being upstaged by his teammate Sebastian Vettel four times this season, Red Bull driver Mark Webber was able to take the pole for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix Saturday.

After topping both of the first qualifying sessions, in Q3 a final battle shaped up between Webber and Vettel. Vettel stole the top spot on his final lap, but Webber was able to respond by re-taking the first place spot and the pole after the checkered flag.

The day started with a surprise from the Williams team as Rubens Barrichello was the biggest shock of Q1 after he was knocked out by Pedro De la Rosa. Joining Barrichello were Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Timo Glock, Lucas di Grassi, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna.

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After sliding off track in the final practice session earlier Saturday, Vitaly Petrov was able to squeak into Q2 knowing he would have to drop five spots for a gearbox change due as a result of his morning crash.

Unlike Q1, the Red bull pair hit the track almost as the green light came on for Q2 and both leapt to the top, Webber led with Vettel in second; after the McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button had paced the field earlier.

In the end Webber and Vettel again led Q2; while Michael Schumacher stood on his time just past halfway and was able to move into Q3.

Out in Q2 included in both Force India cars marking the first time this season that they weren’t represented in Q3. In addition to Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi was Nico Hulkenberg who at least was able to outpace his more experienced teammate for the first time. Petrov and Sebastian Buemi were 14th and 15th with Jamie Alguersuari 16th. Kamui Kobayashi was able to put Williams into Q3 with a late session charge that propelled him into the top 10.

In Q3, both of the McLaren machines were fast early on with Button taking the lead with just over five minutes to go with Fernando Alonso charging. But it didn’t take long for the Red Bull’s to assert themselves with Webber and Vettel snagging the top spots with less than three minutes to go.

Hamilton will start third, Alonso fourth with Button rounding out the top five.

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Schumacher was able to out qualify his teammate Nico Rosberg who was eighth for the second time this season with a sixth, Robert Kubica was seventh, Felipe Massa and Kobayashi were ninth and tenth.

The pole for Webber may bode well as the last 9 races in Spain have all been won from the pole.

Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps

1 6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:21.412 1:20.655 1:19.995

2 5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:21.680 1:20.772 1:20.101

3 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.723 1:21.415 1:20.829

4 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:21.957 1:21.549 1:20.937

5 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.915 1:21.168 1:20.991

6 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:22.528 1:21.557 1:21.294

7 11 Robert Kubica Renault 1:22.488 1:21.599 1:21.353

8 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:22.419 1:21.867 1:21.408

9 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:22.564 1:21.841 1:21.585

10 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:22.577 1:21.725 1:21.984

11 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:22.628 1:21.985

12 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:22.211 1:22.026

13 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:22.857 1:22.131

14 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:22.976 1:22.139

15 16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:22.699 1:22.191

16 17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:22.593 1:22.207

17 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:23.084 1:22.854

18 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:23.125

19 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:24.674

20 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:24.748

21 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:25.475

22 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:25.556

23 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:26.750

24 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:27.122