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Mark Webber claimed his first pole position since last year’s Belgian Grand Prix in qualifying in Spain.
The Australian beat his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel to the top spot as the duo mounted an intra-team battle nearly a second clear of all their rivals.
Lewis Hamilton escaped a big lock-up on his best lap to take third for McLaren, which looked set to fill row two until Fernando Alonso produced his best qualifying effort of 2011 so far to take fourth from Jenson Button.
Felipe Massa was back in eighth in the second Ferrari, 0.9s off Alonso.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Nips Hamilton to Win at Spanish Grand Prix
Formula 1: Mark Webber Grabs Pole For Spanish Grand Prix
F1 Standings Ahead of Spanish Grand Prix
Formula 1: Mark Webber Fastest in First Practice at Barcelona
Formula 1: Spanish Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Formula 1: Mark Webber Fastest in Second Practice at Barcelona
Formula 1: Spanish Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in Final Practice at Barcelona
Formula 1: Spanish Grand Prix - Final Practice Results
Vitaly Petrov was an impressive sixth for Renault, just ahead of Nico Rosberg, whose Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher chose not to go for a time in Q3. Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Ferrari was forced to remove a new rear wing that could have been deemed illegal but two-time world champion Alonso said he could do no better after a “perfect” lap in front of a home crowd.
“We’ll have to use the tires well and that may give us a chance at a podium finish,” the Spanish driver said about the introduction of a new hard tire compound that has troubled teams. “In the first corner I have nothing to lose while the others do.”
Button said: “We’ll see how it is with the hard tire tomorrow because no one really knows how it’s going to go.”
Mexican rookie Pastor Maldonado starts a season-best ninth for Williams ahead of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher of Mercedes.
Nick Heidfeld will start from the pit lane after Renault was unable to repair his car in time for qualifying. The German bowed out of practice earlier with his car engulfed in flames due to an exhaust problem. Heidfeld’s absence allowed Heikki Kovalainen to squeeze Lotus into 15th. The Canadian Press
Pos No Driver Team 1 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 2 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 3 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 4 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 5 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 6 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 7 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 8 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 9 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 10 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 11 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 12 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 13 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 14 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 15 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 16 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 17 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 18 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 19 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 20 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 21 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 22 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 23 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 24 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault
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