Sebastian Vettel secured his 33rd pole position and his third consecutive pole in Valencia for the European Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver will start P1 thanks to a stunning late lap some three tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren in second position.
The grid was a little more mixed behind Vettel and Hamilton with Pastor Maldonado taking third for Williams ahead of the two Lotuses of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen respectively.
Nico Rosberg pipped Kamui Kobayashi to sixth by just over a tenth with Nico Hulkenberg, Jenson Button and Paul di Resta completing the top ten quickest cars.
Ferrari disappointed president Luca di Montezemolo who flew in to watch the session as both cars failed to make Q3. Fernando Alonso starts P11 with Felipe Massa back in P13.
Heikki Kovalainen impressed massively by outqualifying both Toro Rosso cars to start P16.
A rather disappointing day for Mark Webber who’s DRS failed along with a hydraulic issue put him P19.
2012 European GP Qualifying Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:39.626 | 1:38.530 | 1:38.086 |
| 19. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:40.395 | ||
| 02. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:39.169 | 1:38.616 | 1:38.410 |
| 09. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:39.622 | 1:38.563 | 1:38.801 |
| 14. | B. Senna | Williams | 1:39.449 | 1:39.207 | |
| 11. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:39.409 | 1:38.707 | |
| 13. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:39.388 | 1:38.780 | |
| 08. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:39.009 | 1:38.689 | 1:38.752 |
| 03. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:38.825 | 1:38.570 | 1:38.475 |
| 07. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:39.651 | 1:38.703 | 1:38.741 |
| 15. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:39.353 | 1:39.358 | |
| 20. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:40.457 | ||
| 05. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:39.464 | 1:38.531 | 1:38.513 |
| 12. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:39.447 | 1:38.770 | |
| 06. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:39.061 | 1:38.504 | 1:38.623 |
| 04. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:39.350 | 1:38.489 | 1:38.505 |
| 18. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:40.203 | ||
| 10. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:38.858 | 1:38.519 | 1:38.992 |
| 21. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:42.171 | ||
| 17. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:39.924 | 1:40.358 | |
| 16. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:40.087 | 1:40.295 | |
| 23. | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:42.675 | ||
| 24. | T. Glock | Marussia | |||
| 22. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:42.527 | ||
| Q1 107% Time: | 145.742 | ||||
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