Webber and Vettel lead Red Bull blitz

Australian Mark Webber seized pole position for today's Spanish Grand Prix ahead of German team mate Sebastian Vettel on an all Red Bull front row.

The pole was the team's fifth in five races, and Webber's second of the season.

"This pole was for the team, both sides of the garage have had about five hours sleep in the last two nights. They have really worked incredibly hard," said Webber, who will start from the top slot for the third time in his career.

"It's a sensational qualifying for both Seb and myself."

Lewis Hamilton was third fastest and shares the second row with Spaniard Fernando Alonso, his former McLaren team mate and double world champion who is now racing for the first time at home as a Ferrari driver. Formula One world champion Jenson Button, in a McLaren, and seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, for Mercedes, will line up together on the third row at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Schumacher's sixth place marked the first time that the 41-year-old German, making a comeback after three years out, had qualified ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg and was also his highest grid position of the year.

Rosberg qualified eighth with Poland's Robert Kubica seventh for Renault but the German was unhappy that Ferrari had released Alonso straight into his path in the pit lane at the start of the decisive final phase.

"Alonso should get a penalty for that," he told the team over the radio.

Webber, who was faster than Vettel in all three stages of qualifying, will be boosted by the knowledge that the driver on pole has won for the last nine years in Barcelona.

Vettel, on pole three times this year but a winner just once, will equally be encouraged by the fact that no driver has won from pole so far in 2010.

Neither will need reminding that they locked out the front row at the last race in China, only for Button to take the victory.

"I think we are enjoying ourselves. Mark wants to beat me and I want to beat Mark," said Vettel, congratulating his happy team mate, who will have to start on the 'dirty' side of the circuit.

"Maybe I can find something for tomorrow... even if it might look comfortable from the lap times, I think we have to keep our feet on the ground," he added of a session in which the Red Bulls lapped seven tenths faster than the rest of the field.

"This should be a walk in the park for the Red Bulls. If it's dry, it probably will be," commented Button after the most predictable of outcomes.

Hamilton said the Red Bulls looked "ridiculously fast" and McLaren had a lot of work to do, with Ferrari also competitive after introducing engine and aerodynamic modifications for the first race of the European season.

Pole Robert Kubica was seventh for Renault ahead of Rosberg, who was eighth, with Brazilian Felipe Massa ninth in the second Ferrari and Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber snatching a remarkable 10th on the grid, thanks to a spirited effort in Q2.

Hamilton was out early to record a quick lap for McLaren, but it was not long before the Red Bulls responded with Vettel taking a second out of the Englishman's best lap - and then watching as his ultra-competitive team-mate Webber trimmed his time with a lap in one minute and 20.239.

Alonso caused trouble when he darted out of the Ferrari garage and narrowly avoided a collision with Rosberg, the German immediately protesting to his team on their radio: 'He should get a penalty for that.' After overnight rain, the qualifying session began in balmy conditions. (Agencies)

with a track temperature of 35 degrees Celsius and an air temperature of 20 degrees in front of a decent crowd of more than 70,000 spectators at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The first mini-session Q1 saw the usual men consigned to exit the contest, but it was a surprise that Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello failed to make the cut to Q2 in his Williams.

Barrichello was hindered by traffic problems and could only clock the 18th best time to finish ahead of the two Lotus men Italian Jarno Trulli and Finn Heikki Kovalainen, German Timo Glock and Brazilian Luca di Grassi of Virgin Racing and the two Hispania drivers Indian Karun Chandhok and Brazilian Bruno Senna.

In Q2, the Red Bulls began to show their speed and eased clear at the top, but behind them, notably during a furious finale, there were fewer surprises among those fighting for a place in the top-ten shootout.

This session saw the elimination of German Adrian Sutil of Force India in 11th place ahead of Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa for Sauber, German Nico Hulkenberg of Williams and Russian Vitaly Petrov of Renault.

Also out with them went Swiss Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso and his team-mate Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari along with Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi of Force India.

It was a minor triumph for German rookie Hulkenberg, 22, after he had suffered a heavy accident and wrecked his car during Friday practice. This had left him to use the team's spare - a car without any of their latest modification, but good enough for him to leave Barrichello, in the up-to-date chassis, embarrassed.

TOP 10 GRID POSITIONS

1. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault

2. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull – Renault

3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren

4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari

5. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren

6. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes

7. Robert Kubica (Poland) Renault

8. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes

9. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari

10. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) BMW Sauber-Ferrari