Double world champion Fernando Alonso boosted his title chances by securing his first pole position since Singapore 2010 in a wet qualifying session for the 2012 British Grand Prix in Silverstone.
The Spaniard was just 0.047 quicker than Mark Webber in the Red Bull.
Michael Schumacher confirmed Mercedes’ strong form throughout the weekend by qualifying 3rd, followed by double world and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel in 4th.
Felipe Massa looked to have overcome his recent issues as the Brazilian secured 5th place ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen and Williams’ Pastor Maldonado.
Local hero Lewis Hamilton settled for a disappointing 8th position with Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg in 9th and Romain Grosjean in 10th.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m51.746s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m51.793s + 0.047 3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m52.020s + 0.274 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m52.199s + 0.453 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m53.065s + 1.319 6. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m53.290s + 1.544 7. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m53.539s + 1.793 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m53.543s + 1.797 9. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m54.382s + 2.636 10. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault no time Q2 cut-off time: 1m56.931s 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m57.009s + 2.112 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m57.071s + 2.174 13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m57.108s + 2.211 14. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m57.132s + 2.235 15. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m57.426s + 2.529 16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m57.719s + 2.822 17. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m57.895s + 2.998 Q1 cut-off time: 1m47.105s 18. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m48.044s + 1.765 19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m49.027s + 2.748 20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m49.477s + 3.198 21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m51.618s + 5.339 22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m52.742s + 6.463 23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m53.040s + 6.761 24. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m54.143s + 7.864