Mark Webber took pole in Spain, beating Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso...
Red Bull:
Mark Webber: "It was a good session. It was clear going into qualifying that we might have had a bit of a margin and would be battling for pole between ourselves today. You can never underestimate these guys though. We got through Q1 on the first set of hard tyres, which was good, and then in the crucial part of qualifying - in Q3 - it was just about getting the lap right. The lap was pretty good and I was just praying that my number went to the top when I crossed the line. It was a nice lap, a good battle with Seb and today was my day."
Sebastian Vettel: "We can't speak of disappointment, at the end of the day we made a good step forward. Barcelona is the place where everyone brings a lot of new parts and you're here to find out if they all work. I think we made a step, so did the others, but it looks as though we like this track and our cars feel comfortable here. Looking to qualifying, I didn't get into the rhythm immediately, so it was not the smoothest run, but I made it on the primes. In Q2 I felt much happier on the soft compound tyres, but unfortunately in the last qualifying I lost a little bit too much and I wasn't entirely happy with my lap. Mark did a good lap and a better job today. Let's see tomorrow, it's a long race and we saved a set of tyres. I think we will be on top of KERS for the race, the guys are pushing hard and we have proved our car has become quicker, so big compliments to the aero guys in the factory and everyone here. We are working hard on KERS. I didn't have it in Q2 or Q3 today, but I'm sure we will have it tomorrow for the race."
McLaren:
Lewis Hamilton: "The Red Bulls look very strong, but I'm going to do everything I can to jump at least one - if not both - of them at the start. I hope I can attack tomorrow. When you start from the clean side of the grid, you automatically have a much better opportunity of getting a good start - and, this year, I've usually been on the dirty side, so tomorrow will be a bit of a bonus for me. Third on the grid is actually a perfect position - because, if you get a good start, you can slipstream the guys in front. My aim is to be P1 by Turn One! It doesn't normally go that way, but as long as I don't go backwards I'll be happy. When you're trying to eke every last drop out of the car, you sometimes lock the front wheels - and that's just what happened on my final lap. While the flat-spot to the front-left doesn't look perfect, we'll manage it by re-balancing the wheels, so it'll be fine. We've definitely made an improvement this weekend. We'll keep pushing: we don't give up, and with the DRS we should see some good racing tomorrow."
Jenson Button: "I feel that I did a good lap, so I'm happy with that; my car got better and better throughout the session - I was only three-hundredths slower than Lewis. I was a bit unlucky not to be third, then Fernando got between us as well, so you can see how close it is out there. One major positive is that, like Lewis, I'll be starting on the clean side of the grid. Another is that, also like Lewis, I've got two sets of [Option] tyres that have only done one lap and another set that's brand new - that's going to be key tomorrow. Having your tyres in good condition makes such a difference - so I think we're looking in very good shape. There's a big difference between the Option and the Prime here, so there'll be some different strategies tomorrow. We'll be looking at the strategy tonight and I'm sure we can make the harder tyre work for us too."
Ferrari:
Fernando Alonso: "I did a perfect lap: I reckon that if I tried to repeat it twenty times, I could not do better! When you do a lap like that it's hard to put into words what one feels: always being on the limit, in every corner is a really special feeling for a driver. I am very happy with this result, because we have never made it to the second row this year. Sure, pole position is still a long way off: today, Red Bull was once again out of reach and we must work hard to try and get closer. This morning we ran some set-up changes on the car that did not produce the results we were expecting, also partly down to the conditions changing in terms of wind direction. We went back to what we had before for qualifying and instantly it was better. In general, we have made a step forward in performance terms, thanks to the updates we have brought here. So far, in the races we have gone better than in qualifying and so I think we can be in the fight for the podium. It will be tough at the start because the McLarens always get off the line well and then they have one more new set of soft tyres than we do."
Felipe Massa: "This was definitely not the qualifying performance we were expecting, but all weekend long we have struggled with the balance of the car: we would have needed to be perfect to start a bit further up the order and that was not the case. Let's hope that, on full tanks, the car works better and then we can see if we can get a good result. On a track like this it will not be easy to manage the tyres in the best way nor to find the best possible strategy. In Q2 we decided to stay in the garage, running the risk of not getting any further, because it would not have made much sense making the cut and then finding ourselves in Q3 without any new tyres: the outcome proved us right, even if we had hoped to make a better job of that opportunity. It is clear we suffer more than the others on the hard tyres. Overtaking? We will definitely see more than in the past at a circuit like this and that will mainly be down to tyre degradation."
Renault:
Vitaly Petrov: "We have got to be happy with the result. The team made a big improvement today, and the result of my car reflects that. Things felt good, the balance of the car was fine and I was able to put in a fast time in Q3 to ensure that we got the car in a good position on the grid. I knew what we had to do today, and did it so I am pleased and looking forward to tomorrow. It should be another action packed race and strategy will be very important."
Nick Heidfeld: "It was a challenging day, and there was not much more we could have done after the exhaust problem this morning. The was a small hole in the right exhaust and then it overheated. Then, when I heard a strange noise, the power cut out and there were flames so I had to stop. Since then, the team worked flat out to try and get me out for the qualifying session, but it was not to be. At least I managed to get a couple of laps on the hard tyres today, and during the race tomorrow I will need to push hard to make up some ground and get up the order."
