Mark Webber will start the Turkish GP in pole position, his fourth of the season so far. A Red Bull 1-2 looked like a safe bet, but it wasn’t to be after Lewis Hamilton managed to slip his McLaren between the two.
Jenson Button will start in P4 behind Sebastian Vettel with Michael Schumacher just behind.
Fernando Alonso will disappointingly start 12th after a mistake in Q3 saw him loose time in the penultimate corner.
Qualifying Report:
Lewis Hamilton set the early pace, a 1:27.555 before being beaten by the dominant Red Bull of Webber, then Vettel.
Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi suffered an early spin but recovered to the track before setting the 18th quickest lap, which failed to put him through to Q2.
Bruno Senna managed to beat the Virgin of Lucas di Grassi by five tenths, however team mate Chandhok was just under eight tenths slower, putting him last.
The usual newcomers joined Liuzzi in dropping out in the first session.
Robert Kubica was first out in Q2. Whilst Vettel was the early pacesetter, the first man to dip into the 1:26’s.
Fernando Alonso touched a white line in the final sector which caused him to loose time into the penultimate corner on his fast lap, the result of that saw him fail to make Q3.
Alonso’s mistake allowed Kamui Kobayashi to progress into Q3 for the second time this season.
Q3 saw Webber set the pace with a Red Bull 1-2 on the cards, however Hamilton just managed to divide them.
Michael Schumacher had an off on his quick lap which saw Button having to back-off and loose time, putting him fourth.
Qualifying Times: (click column header to sort)
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:27.067 | 1:26.729 | 1:26.760 | 18 |
| 01 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:27.500 | 1:26.013 | 1:26.295 | 18 |
| 04 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:27.555 | 1:27.438 | 1:26.781 | 18 |
| 02 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:27.667 | 1:27.013 | 1:26.433 | 18 |
| 08 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.993 | 1:27.200 | 1:27.082 | 18 |
| 12 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:27.857 | 1:27.612 | 14 | |
| 05 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:27.756 | 1:27.438 | 1:26.857 | 19 |
| 06 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:27.649 | 1:27.141 | 1:26.952 | 18 |
| 07 | R. Kubica | Renault | 1:27.766 | 1:27.426 | 1:27.039 | 19 |
| 09 | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:27.620 | 1:27.387 | 1:27.430 | 21 |
| 15 | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:28.336 | 1:28.392 | 14 | |
| 17 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | 1:28.227 | 1:28.841 | 15 | |
| 18 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | 1:28.958 | 8 | ||
| 11 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:27.951 | 1:27.525 | 18 | |
| 13 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | 1:28.147 | 1:27.879 | 14 | |
| 10 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:28.158 | 1:27.434 | 1:28.122 | 17 |
| 16 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:28.460 | 1:28.540 | 16 | |
| 14 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:28.534 | 1:28.273 | 15 | |
| 20 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:30.519 | 11 | ||
| 19 | J. Trulli | Lotus | 1:30.237 | 13 | ||
| 21 | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:30.744 | 9 | ||
| 23 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | 1:31.989 | 9 | ||
| 22 | B. Senna | Hispania | 1:31.266 | 9 | ||
| 24 | K. Chandhok | Hispania | 1:32.060 | 10 |
(All timing unofficial)
