Webber makes his mark

There was no doubting Red Bulls pace after it dominated all three practice sessions,with Webber enjoying nearly a 1-second advantage over Lewis Hamilton of McLaren. Hamilton held off Ferraris Fernando Alonso by 0.003 seconds in qualifying to start third.

Webber snapped Vettels five-race run from pole in a qualifying session that really just came down to two cars. 8220;We thought we were going to battle for the pole between ourselves. It was a nice lap,a good battle with Seb, said Webber,whose win here last year made it 10 straight victories for the polesitter. 8220;But today was my day.

Vettel holds a 34-point lead over second-place Hamilton and 38 over third-place Webber in the standings. McLaren stayed closest to the Red Bulls again in qualifying but Hamilton never looked like breaking the top-two monopoly in the hot,dry conditions.

So dominant has Red Bull been in Barcelona that Webber could afford to watch the close of qualifying from the cool confines of the garage.

Jenson Button and Renaults Vitaly Petrov filled out the third row,with Nico Rosberg of Mercedes starting seventh ahead of Ferraris Felipe Massa. Mexican rookie Pastor Maldonado starts a season-best ninth for Williams ahead of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher of Mercedes.