German Grand Prix:Mark Webber will start on pole position for the first time in his Formula One career following a stunning qualifying for Sunday's German Grand Prix. Rain blighted the middle 15-minute session at the Nurburgring, but it stayed dry for the vital top-10 shootout, and it was the Australian due to make his 130th start who heads the field.
Red Bull Racing's Webber then had to anxiously wait in the dying moments as the Brawns of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, as well team-mate Sebastian Vettel filed through, but they will start second, third and fourth respectively.
Lewis Hamilton proved his practice performances of yesterday and this morning were no flukes, the world champion starting fifth in his much-improved McLaren.
The weather certainly helped team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.
The Finn lines up sixth - remarkably followed by Adrian Sutil, giving Force India their first top-10 position.
Behind Sutil come the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, with Nelson Piquet completing the top 10 for Renault.
For the first time in 27 races since joining Renault, Piquet finally out-qualified his more illustrious team-mate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.
Remarkably, the Brazilian did so with speculation rife this is his final grand prix for the team and that he is to be dropped in light of his previously under-performing record over the past 18 months.
The rain, though, played its part in the middle period.
There were numerous spinners, trundles across the grass and gravel as drivers were on the wrong tyres at the wrong time.
The big winner was Barrichello, who bided his time as he watched the mayhem unfold from the safety of his garage.
As the shower relented, the Brazilian produced the ideal lap at the right time given the conditions, finishing the period 1.3secs clear of Piquet.
There were no major casualties. The losers dropping out were BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who starts 11th, with Alonso 12th following a late spin on the greasy track.
The Williams duo of Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg then sandwiched Toyota's Jarno Trulli in 13th, 14th and 15th.
The initial 20-minute qualifying spell was relatively untroubled - because although there were spots of rain in the air in the final five minutes, it did not play a part.
Robert Kubica's hopes of a return to form were thwarted. He will start 16th, followed by Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi and Giancarlo Fisichella in his Force India.
Timo Glock's up-and-down season continued. He is 19th on the grid in his Toyota, with Sebastien Bourdais last for Toro Rosso.
The suggestion is this is the Frenchman's last grand prix, because he has failed to come to terms with F1 during his 18 months in the sport.
It is likely Bourdais will be replaced by 19-year-old Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari for the next race in Hungary.
To underline Bourdais' abysmal performance, 1.2secs separated the top 19 drivers in Q1, with the 30-year-old 1.1secs adrift of Glock.