Webber pips Vettel for pole

Mark Webber pipped his team-mate and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel to the line to grab pole position for today’s Korean Grand Prix, ensuring a front-row lock-out for Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren will be on the second row, alongside Fernando Alonso, of Ferrari, who leads the drivers’ championship by four points over Vettel – in South Korea on the back of successive victories.

Kimi Raikkonen, of Lotus, was fifth-fastest, followed by Alonso’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa.

They were ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg, of Force India.

The Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher rounded out the top 10 at a dry but cool Yeongam.

A notable absentee from the top 10 shootout was Jenson Button, of McLaren, who bowed out in the second qualifying session, along with the Sauber duo of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, who was third last week in his native Japan.

Vettel was quickest in the final practice and in the first two sessions of qualifying.

He appeared set for pole until Webber left it late in the session to steam home just 0.074 seconds ahead of Vettel.

It was the 200th Formula One pole for Red Bull’s engine supplier Renault and the second Red Bull one-two at the front of the pack in as many weeks.

After appearing angry, Vettel said he did not blame an engineer for a mix-up over the team radio that saw him run up against the back of Massa, slowing him down during his last run.

“Overall we can be very happy,” he said.

“We were quite quick in qualifying sessions one and two.”

Alonso, who has seen Vettel close his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings to the most slender of margins, said it was “a step forward compared to Japan” – where he went out at the first corner with a puncture.

The Spaniard added that his Ferrari needed more pace – something he has said since the start of the season.

“We must improve it and I expect to see some updates coming, right from the next race in India” he said.

Meanwhile, Mercedes were fined €10,000 for an “unsafe release” after Schumacher was involved in a near-collision with Hamilton in the pit lane.

Today’s grid...

1. Mark Webber (Red Bull) - 1:37.242
2. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) - 1:37.316
3. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 1:37.469
4. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) - 1:37.534
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) - 1:37.625
6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 1:37.884
7. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) - 1:37.934
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) - 1:38.266
9. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:38.361
10. Mic. Schumacher (Mercedes) - 1:38.513
11. Jenson Button (McLaren) - 1:38.441
12. Sergio Perez (Sauber) - 1:38.460
13. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) - 1:38.594
14. Paul di Resta (Force India) - 1:38.643
15. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) - 1:38.725
16. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) - 1:39.084
17. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) - 1:39.340
18. Bruno Senna (Williams) - 1:39.443
19. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) - 1:40.207
20. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) - 1:40.333
21. Charles Pic (Marussia) - 1:41.317
22. Timo Glock (Marussia) - 1:41.371
23. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) - 1:42.881
24. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) - no time

Overall standings

Drivers
1. Alonso (ESP) 194, 2. Vettel (GER) 190, 3. Raikkonen (FIN) 157, 4. Hamilton (GBR) 152, 5. Webber (AUS) 134, 6. Button (GBR) 131, 7. Rosberg (GER) 93, 8. Grosjean (FRA) 82, 9. Massa (BRA) 69, 10. Perez (MEX) 66, 11. Kobayashi (JPN) 50, 12. Di Resta (GBR) 44, 13. Schumacher (GER) 43, 14. Hulkenberg (GER) 37, 15. Maldonado (VEN) 33, 16. Senna (BRA) 25, 17. Vergne (FRA) 8, 18. Ricciardo (AUS) 7.

Constructors
1. Red Bull 324, 2. McLaren 283, 3. Ferrari Scuderia 263, 4. Lotus 239, 5. Mercedes 136, 6. Sauber 116, 7. Force India 81, 8. Williams 58, 9. Toro Rosso 15.