Red Bull’s title-chasing Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for today’s championship-deciding season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, outpacing another title rival Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by just 0.031 seconds yesterday.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso, of Ferrari, was third fastest just three-tenths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton with 2009 champion Briton Jenson Button fourth in the second McLaren, his presence ensuring an element of uncertainty in the fight for the title this afternoon (start: 2 p.m.).

Australian Mark Webber, better known for his race-craft than his qualifying, was the fifth fastest driver in the second Red Bull, the last of the four title contenders. He will share the third row of the grid with sixth-placed Brazilian Felipe Massa, of Ferrari.

In a thrilling and dramatic finale to a tense qualifying session at the spectacular Yas Marina Circuit, Vettel managed to find the speed to resist a determined surge from a fired-up Hamilton who drove with real elan in his own charge for pole.

It was the German’s 10th pole of the season and the 15th of his career and gives him an excellent opportunity of lifting the drivers’ championship today to add to the constructors’ title won by the Red Bull team last weekend in Brazil.

Another Brazilian, Rubens Barrichello, of Williams, was seventh ahead of his old Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher, the 41-year-old seven-times champion maintaining his late-season improvement for Mercedes by taking eighth place ahead of his German compatriot and team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov took the final top ten spot for Renault on an evening of high anxiety for the teams and their drivers which offered few clues or pointers to the outcome of a magnificent roller-coaster season.

In Q1, as the sun descended and the lights came on, all of the title contenders were fastest at different times, apart from Webber, but they were all content to clock competitive times and proceed to Q2.

By this time, the track temperature was falling from an earlier high of 41 degrees Celsius to 32 and the ambient air temperature to 27. This was more comfortable for drivers, cars and spectators after a torrid day of heat and humidity.

The next mini-session, Q2, saw Alonso and Button posting fast early times followed by Schumacher and Rosberg. By midway, ten drivers were in the 1:40s before Vettel, on super-soft tyres, broke through with a 1:40.318 to go top.

All this left Hamilton down in 17th and without a quick lap, after a half-spin at Turn One, where he ran wide over the kerbs.

As the tension rose, Hamilton rejoined from a pit stop and almost tangled with Massa as he cut across his line before delivering a lap that saw him climb, with relief, to second with barely 30 seconds remaining. A corner marker was the only casualty of Hamilton’s charge.

In the final flurry, he was pushed down to fifth ahead of sixth-placed Alonso, but through to the top ten shootout along with the rest. Vettel was fastest, ahead of Button, Rosberg and Webber.

All this left Robert Kubica, of Renault, to miss the cut in 11th place for the first time this season, out-qualified by Petrov, also for the first time in 2010.

The grid

1. Vettel (Red Bull) - 1:39.394
2. Hamilton (McLaren) - 1:39.425
3. Alonso (Ferrari) - 1:39.792
4. Button (McLaren) - 1:39.823
5. Webber (Red Bull) - 1:39.925
6. Massa (Ferrari) - 1:40.202
7. Barrichello (Williams) - 1:40.203
8. Schumacher (Mercedes) - 1:40.516
9. Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:40.589
10. Petrov (Renault) - 1:40.901

Eliminated in Q2
11. Kubica (Renault) - 1:40.780
12. Kobayashi (Sauber) - 1:40.783
13. Sutil (Force India) - 1:40.914
14. Heidfeld (Sauber) - 1:41.113
15. Hulkenberg (Williams) - 1:41.418
16. Liuzzi (Force India) - 1:41.642
17. Alguersuari (T. Rosso) - 1:41.738

Eliminated in Q3
18. Buemi (T. Rosso) - 1:41.824
19. Trulli (Lotus) - 1:43.516
20. Kovalainen (Lotus) - 1:43.712
21. Glock (Virgin) - 1:44.095
22. Di Grassi (Virgin) - 1:44.510
23. Senna (Hispania) - 1:45.085
24. Klien (Hispania) - 1:45.296

Standings

Drivers
1. Alonso - 246 points
2. Webber - 238
3. Vettel - 231
4. Hamilton - 222
5. Button - 199
6. Massa - 143
7. Rosberg - 130
8. Kubica - 126
9. Schumacher - 72
10. Barrichello - 47
11. Sutil - 47
12. Kobayashi - 32
13. Hulkenberg - 22
14. Liuzzi - 21
15. Petrov - 19
16. Buemi - 8
17. De la Rosa - 6
18. Heidfeld - 6
19. Alguersuari - 3

Constructors
1. Red Bull - 469 points
2. McLaren - 421
3. Ferrari - 389
4. Mercedes - 202
5. Renault - 145
6. Williams - 69
7. Force India - 68
8. Sauber - 44
9. Toro Rosso - 11

Last 20 champs

1990: Senna - McLaren
1991: Senna - McLaren
1992: Mansell - Williams
1993: Prost - Williams
1994: Schumacher - Benetton
1995: Schumacher - Benetton
1996: Hill - Williams
1997: Villeneuve - Williams
1998: Hakkinen - McLaren
1999: Hakkinen - McLaren
2000: Schumacher - Ferrari
2001: Schumacher - Ferrari
2002: Schumacher - Ferrari
2003: Schumacher - Ferrari
2004: Schumacher - Ferrari
2005: Alonso - Renault
2006: Alonso - Renault
2007: Raikkonen - Ferrari
2008: Hamilton - McLaren
2009: Button - Brawn