Motor Sport:Red Bull Racing continued their unrivalled domination of qualifying this season as they locked out the front row for the third time in five grands prix. When it comes to qualifying, Red Bull are currently in a league of their own, with Mark Webber edging out Sebastian Vettel on this occasion.
Webber’s third pole lap of his career was timed at one minute 19.995seconds, a brutal performance from the Australian because, even though Vettel was in close attendance, he was almost a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third in his McLaren.
History is now on Webber’s side as the last nine winners of this race at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, and 12 of the last 13, have started from pole.
The pole was Webber's second of the season, with Red Bull's blistering lap times leaving their rivals gasping for air in their slipstream.
"This pole was for the team, both sides of the garage have had about five hours sleep in the last two nights. They have really worked incredibly hard," said Webber, who will start from the top slot for the third time in his career on Sunday.
"It's a sensational qualifying for both Seb and myself."
Hamilton shares the second row with Fernando Alonso, his former McLaren team mate and double world champion who is now racing for the first time at home as a Ferrari driver.
Alonso's grid position was overshadowed by a stewards' enquiry, with Ferrari fined $20,000 for releasing his car unsafely into the path of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg in a pitlane incident.
Formula One world champion Jenson Button, in a McLaren, and seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, for Mercedes, will line up together on the third row.
Schumacher's sixth place marked the first time that the 41-year-old , making a comeback after three years out, had qualified ahead of team mate Rosberg and was also his highest grid position of the year.
Rosberg qualified eighth with Poland's Robert Kubica seventh for Renault but felt Alonso should have been penalised for the near collision.
Alonso naturally saw no need for any sanction, telling reporters: "I didn't see Nico unfortunately, the angle of vision is not perfect to see anyone coming from the pits so you rely on your mechanic."
Hamilton said the Red Bulls looked "ridiculously fast" and McLaren had a lot of work to do, with Ferrari also competitive after introducing engine and aerodynamic modifications for the first race of the European season.
At the back end, Renault's Russian Vitaly Petrov qualified 14th but collected a five place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
Both Virgin Racing cars were also demoted five places for a breach of the technical regulations having qualified 21st and 22nd. Indian Karun Chandhok, who qualified behind them in 23rd, goes right to the back after a gearbox change.