Mark Webber finally put an end to Sebastian Vettel’s qualifying dominance by securing pole position by two tenths ahead of his team-mate.
Lewis Hamilton will line up third, a second slower than the quickest Red Bull, whilst Fernando Alonso will start P4.
Jenson Button slipped to fifth, followed by Vitaly Petrov, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa.
Pastor Maldonado made it through to Q3 for the first time, securing P9 in front of Michael Schumacher, the German deciding against a Q3 lap.
For a full qualifying report, see our live text commentary here.
Spanish GP Qualifying Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:24.142 | 1:21.540 | 1:21.181 |
| 01. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:23.619 | 1:21.773 | 1:20.981 |
| 03. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:24.370 | 1:22.148 | 1:21.961 |
| 05. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:24.428 | 1:22.050 | 1:21.996 |
| 24. | N. Heidfeld | Renault | |||
| 04. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:23.485 | 1:22.813 | 1:21.964 |
| 08. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:23.506 | 1:23.026 | 1:22.888 |
| 17. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:24.648 | 1:26.571 | |
| 09. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:23.406 | 1:22.854 | 1:22.952 |
| 14. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:23.656 | 1:23.702 | |
| 12. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:24.209 | 1:23.367 | |
| 06. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:23.069 | 1:22.948 | 1:22.471 |
| 19. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:26.910 | ||
| 10. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:22.960 | 1:22.671 | |
| 07. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:23.507 | 1:22.569 | 1:22.599 |
| 11. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:23.962 | 1:23.231 | |
| 13. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:24.049 | 1:23.694 | |
| 16. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:24.332 | 1:26.126 | |
| 18. | J. Trulli | Team Lotus | 1:26.521 | ||
| 22. | N. Karthikeyan | Hispania | 1:27.809 | ||
| 15. | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus | 1:25.874 | 1:25.403 | |
| 23. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:28.556 | ||
| 20. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:27.315 | ||
| 21. | V. Liuzzi | Hispania | 1:27.809 | ||
| Q1 107% Time: | 1:28.767 | ||||
