Nico Rosberg took his second consecutive pole position for Mercedes with a blistering lap in Barcelona to start at the very front.
The German’s 1:20.718 was over two-tenths quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton who starts in second to give Mercedes their first 1-2 on Saturday since the Brawn GP days.
The pair were the oly cars to dip below 1:21, with third placed Sebastian Vettel over three tenths slower than Rosberg.
Kimi Raikkonen will start behind the German and ahead of local favourite Fernando Alonso in fifth. Felipe Massa was just one thousandth slower than his team-mate – however he may face a penalty for blocking Mark Webber who starts eighth.
Sergio Perez was the surprise Q3 runner, taking ninth whilst Jenson Button failed to exit the second session and will start 14th despite a raft of updates for McLaren.
Williams were hoping to make it through to Q2 with both cars, but they were left upset as both Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado failed to escape Q1 with the Caterhams and Marussias.
Qualifying – 2013 Spanish Grand Prix
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:22.158 | 1:21.602 | 1:21.054 |
| 08 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:22.342 | 1:21.718 | 1:21.570 |
| 14 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:23.166 | 1:22.355 | |
| 09 | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:23.116 | 1:21.790 | 1:22.069 |
| 07 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:22.613 | 1:21.308 | 1:21.308 |
| 01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:21.913 | 1:21.776 | 1:20.718 |
| 05 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:22.264 | 1:21.646 | 1:21.218 |
| 04 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:22.210 | 1:21.676 | 1:21.177 |
| 02 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:21.728 | 1:21.001 | 1:20.972 |
| 15 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:23.058 | 1:22.389 | |
| 06 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:22.492 | 1:21.978 | 1:21.219 |
| 10 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:22.663 | 1:22.019 | 1:22.233 |
| 13 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:22.952 | 1:22.346 | |
| 17 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:23.260 | ||
| 12 | J-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:22.775 | 1:22.166 | |
| 11 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:22.905 | 1:22.127 | |
| 18 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:23.318 | ||
| 16 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:23.218 | 1:22.793 | |
| 20 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:24.713 | ||
| 21 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:24.996 | ||
| 19 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:24.661 | ||
| 22 | C. Pic | Caterham | 1:25.070 |
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