Red Bull’s Mark Webber will start on pole position for the first time in his Formula One career following a rain-affected qualifying session for Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
Bad weather blighted the middle 15-minute session on Saturday, but it stayed dry for the vital top-10 shoot-out, where the Australian proved quicker than his rivals. The Brawns of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button will start second and third on the grid, with Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel back in fourth position. World champion Lewis Hamilton proved his practice performances were no fluke by taking fifth in his much-improved McLaren, ahead of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. Adrian Sutil gave Force India their first-ever top-10 position by qualifying in a superb seventh place, ahead of the Ferrari’s of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen — with Nelson Piquet completing the top 10 for Renault. For the first time in 27 races since joining Renault, Piquet finally out-qualified his more illustrious team-mate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. A delighted Webber told Press Association Sport: “This is a very special day for me. “I’ve been close to getting pole a few times in the past, and now we’re here. “The team has done a very good job; I’ve been quick all weekend, but we got really tested today. I’m now in a fantastic position to get my first-ever win.
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World championship leader Button, who is 23 points clear of Barrichello in the standings, said: “The second qualifying session was madness, but it was good fun. “We’re struggling with the tires anyway, but when you chuck water in there as well it’s quite difficult. But it’s great to see Rubens and myself in the top three — and Mark’s got his first pole positon, so congratulations to him. ”
