Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel will be starting tomorrow’s European Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest lap in Qualifying this afternoon. The German’s was 4 tenths clear of closest rival Lewis Hamilton who ended up behind him in 2nd.
Pastor Maldonado put his Williams in 3rd place, ahead of Lotus duo Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen in 4th and 5th respectively. The Venezuelan looked set for a second pole this season until Vettel and Hamilton’s efforts dropped him to 3rd.
Nico Rosberg was the faster of the Mercedes drivers; the German qualified 6th with Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi right on his tail in 7th.
Jenson Button came on top his qualifying problems as he made into Q3, the Briton was sandwiched in 9th position by the two Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg (8th) and Paul Di Resta (10th).
Ferrari had a disappointing qualifying session after both of its drivers failed to make it into Q3 despite an upgraded F2012. Fernando Alonso will start tomorrow’s race in 11th with Felipe Massa in 13th.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m38.086s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.410s + 0.324 3. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m38.475s + 0.389 4. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m38.505s + 0.419 5. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m38.513s + 0.427 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.623s + 0.537 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m38.741s + 0.655 8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m38.752s + 0.666 9. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.801s + 0.715 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m38.992s + 0.906 Q2 cut-off time: 1m38.703s 11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m38.707s + 0.218 12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m38.770s + 0.281 13. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m38.780s + 0.291 14. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m39.207s + 0.718 15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.358s + 0.869 16. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m40.295s + 1.806 17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.358s + 1.869 Q1 cut-off time: 1m40.087s 18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m40.203s + 1.378 19. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m40.395s + 1.570 20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m40.457s + 1.632 21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m42.171s + 3.346 22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m42.527s + 3.702 23. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m42.675s + 3.850