Mark Webber completed a hat-trick of pole positions by stealing top spot in final qualifying for the Turkish GP from the combined threat of Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

The Australian, who claimed P1 in both Spain and Monaco – as well as in Malaysia earlier in the year – knocked Lewis off provisional pole with his first flying lap, and then improved further with his second, after the chequered flag had waved, to put the spot out of anyone’s reach.

Vettel’s initial run had been good enough for second until Hamilton improved to claim a front row start, and the German then made a minor mistake on his final flier, consigning him to third, ahead of the other McLaren of Jenson Button, who abandoned his final lap after an incident ahead of him.

Michael Schumacher will start Sunday’s seventh round from the inside of row three, but ended his session in the turn eight gravel after pressing too hard to move up the grid. The German veteran will have Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg alongside him after edging the younger man by a tenth. Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa share row four, ahead of rookies Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi, the Sauber man hampered by a lack of soft tyres.

QUALIFYING TIMES

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.295s

2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.433s

3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.760s

4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.781s

5. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.857s

6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.952s

7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault 1m 27.039s

8. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.082s

9. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault 1m 27.430s

10. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 28.122s

11. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 27.525s

12. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.612s

13. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.879s

14. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.273s

15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.392s

16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.540s

17. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.841s

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 28.958s

19. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.237s

20. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.519s

21. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 1m 30.744s

22. Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 1m 31.266s

23. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 1m 31.989s

24. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth 1m 32.060s

all times unofficial

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