Vettel wins British grand prix

• Sebastian Vettel's second win of the season• Jenson Button finishes in sixth after poor startSebastian Vettel has won the British grand prix for his second race win of the season, with Mark Webber behind him for a Red Bull one-two, and Rubens Barricchello in third. The world championship leader Jenson Button started and finished in sixth, but he still holds a healthy 23-point lead from Barrichello, who has 41 points. Vettel's win keeps him in third place, now two points behind Barrichello.It was the final FIA grand prix to be staged at Silverstone, although the current stand-off between the Formula One controllers and the teams means the track could yet be called into action as part of a rebel series next year. Vettel won from pole and made a strong start, unlike two weeks ago in Turkey when an early error allowed Button into first place, a position he did not relinquish for the rest of the race. In fact it was Button who started poorly this time, boxed in and immediately slipping three places to ninth.Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso overtook each other to renew their old rivalry, but unlike the 2007 championship, the two were well down the field. Hamilton eventually finished in 16th position.2009 British grand prix results1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 22mins 49.328secs2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:23:04.5163 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:23:30.4834 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:23:34.3715 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:23:35.2436 Jenson Button (GB) Brawn GP 1:23:35.6137 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:23:57.6358 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:23:58.9509 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:23:59.15110 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:24:00.85011 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:24:03.35112 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault at 1 Lap13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber at 1 Lap14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault at 1 Lap15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 1 Lap16 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren at 1 Lap17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India at 1 Lap18 Sébastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 LapNot Classified: 19 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 37 Laps completed, 20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 36 Laps completedWorld championship standingsDrivers: 1 Jenson Button (GB) Brawn GP 64pts, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 41, 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 39, 4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 35.5, 5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 21.5, 6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 16, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 15.5, 8 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 13, 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 11, 10 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 10, 11 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 9, 12 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 6, 13 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 4, 14 Sébastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 15 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 2, 16 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2, 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 0, 18 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 0, 19 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 0, 20 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 0Manufacturers: 1 Brawn GP 105, 2 Red Bull 74.5, 3 Toyota 34.5, 4 Ferrari 26, 5 Williams 15.5, 6 McLaren 13, 7 Renault 11, 8 BMW Sauber 8, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 5, 10 Force India 0Formula oneRed BullJenson ButtonBrawnFerrariMcLarenRenaultForce IndiaSauberToyotaWilliamsToro RossoLewis HamiltonMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

British grand prix – live!

Join Gemma for all the action. Any insights, questions or comments can be e-mailed hereLap 17: Raikkonen (P10) has leap-frogged Nakajima (P11) in those stops. Hamilton - being held up by the slower Kubica - tells his engineer he cannot pass as he has no grip.Lap 16: Kazuki 'I'm running on a wisp of fuel' Nakajima is the first to pit. He stays on the harder tyre. Vettel does another fastest lap. Button is now 27.4 seconds adrift of the leader. Raikkonen also pits.Lap 12: Not much drama to report I'm afraid folks. Here's the order: Vettel, Barrichello, Webber, Nakajima (I know!), Raikkonen, Rosberg, Trulli, Button, Massa, Glock, Fisichella (go on my son), Heidfeld, Alonso, Kubica, Hamilton, Piquet, Bourdais, Buemi, Kovalainen and Sutil.Lap 11: My carefully-positioned boyfriend... erm, sorry, I mean track-side mole... is embedded at Club. But all he has to report is that there are plenty of chips being consumed (gernerous servings too, apparently). And it's a bit chilly.Lap 10: Vettel's lead now 10 seconds and he's just posted another fastest lap. Webber maintains his close pursuit of Barrichello but has not thrown any moves.Lap nine: Hamilton's engineers have told him he must get past Kubica (P14). But the Brit said yesterday that his car is so poor the only way to drive it is slowly.Lap eight: Heidfeld is running well in 12th, having started 15th, despite his poorly nose (on the car, you understand).Lap seven: Vettel's lead is over 7 seconds now, but there's only eight tenths between Barrichello and Webber. Button still in eighth - he's over 15 seconds shy of the race leader now.Lap five: Webber is six seconds behind his team-mate in third. He'll need to get past Barrichello if he wants to hunt him down. Kubica has taken 14th from Hamilton - looks like happened when Alonso (in P13) ran wide and held up Hamilton, allowing the BMW through.Lap four: Over the radio we can hear Heidfeld's engineer telling him 'box! box!' (which means pit, not slam another driver in the face) for a new nose. But the militant German says 'nein'. He'll wait until the first stop. Vettel's lead now 4.4sec.Lap three: Vettel is storming - he made almost a second on Barrichello in that lap. Kovalainen wins the prize for worst start: he lined up in 13th and he's back in 19th.Lap two: Vettel's lead is already 2.5seconds, he's the fastest car on track. Hamilton is up to 14th already - he can see a points finish in his sights. Button has re-passed Massa for eighth.Lap one: Trulli also dropped down the order at the start. The Ferraris both got flyers - Massa looked fantastic surging past Button. The order in the top ten after the first tour: Vettel, Barrichello, Webber, Nakajima, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Trulli, Massa, Button and Glock.The start: Vettel good start, keeps ahead of Barrichello and Webber. Button has dropped down to eighth.Most of the frontrunners - apart from the Williams cars - are starting on the softer option tyres. We're about to get underway...Enough politics. We're counting down to the start of the GP now. It looks a little breezy at the former airfield. Flavio Briatore has told the BBC's Martin Brundle that he "loves" Bernie Ecclestone. Victoria Pendleton "cannot believe" that she's been standing on the Formula One grid. And Lewis Hamilton is casting round for a pair of binoculars so he can get a glimpse of the front of the pack...More breaking news: The Big Row has given Donington Park a 'get out of jail free' card. Apparently, if the planned breakaway goes ahead, the circuit bosses can pull out of their contract to host the GP. Which would help them out of any hole, were they not to achieve the funding necessary to bring the circuit up to scratch, wouldn't it?I think the news editor will pull out my computer's power cable if I don't mention The Big Row. The latest news: in a quote that will leave the City's finest barristers weeping into their copies of the Sunday Times this morning, Max Mosley has said that a resolution is imminent. "I think we would rather talk than litigate," he said. "We are very, very close as far as the facts are concerned. It's just if the teams want to sit down and iron out the last few difficulties." So are we close to a resolution then? Let's hope so: my fingernails are already bitten to the quick and I can handle any more last-minute re-writes. But what do you care about my bleeding hands - email me with your thoughts.Elsewhere on the grid, the Williams pair were light-fuelled and running highly. But the big story had to be Lewis Hamilton's dire 19th position. He wasn't helped by the red flags coming out owing to Adrian Sutil's heafty shunt, but the reigning champion later claimed he had little more to come from his curtailed flying lap. At least it'll be fun to watch him try and work his way up the field. Funny, though, how we've been uttering that line for the past few races. But we absolutely won't say 'what a difference a year makes'. That would be too cliched. Ooops.So Vettel, the only man other than Jenson to have won a grand prix this season, sits on pole. And what a lap it was. Information on the fuel loads released last night showed that the young German's car was carrying two more laps of fuel compared to team-mate Webber - with the Brawn GP drivers' cars carrying less than both the Red Bulls. So you'd have to fancy that the energy drink-powered cars have the edge, right? Both drivers praised recent technical developments made by the Milton Keynes-based squad, while Button could only whinge about his skitterish Brawn.1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault2. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes3. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault4. Jarno Trulli, Toyota5. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota6. Jenson Button, Brawn-Mercedes7. Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota8. Timo Glock, Toyota9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari10. Fernando Alonso, Renault11. Felipe Massa, Ferrari12. Robert Kubica, BMW-Sauber13. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes14. Nelson Piquet, Renault15. Nick Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber16. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India-Mercedes17. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari18. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes19. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes20. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-FerrariBut let's say 'pah!' to those anoraks at the circuit anyway - they were smugly expecting to watch hero-de-jour Jenson Button triumph, weren't they? Not so confident now though. Sixth on the grid? What's all that about we demanded after yesterday's qualifying session. No grip, according to Sir Jenson of Frome. Skating around like a duckling on an icy pond, apparently. Ole Button has written off his chances of victory already, so what can we expect from today's race? Let's remind ourselves of the grid...Well hello. So you're not one of the 90,000 people who've made the pilgrimage to Silverstone for it's last-ever Formula One grand prix* (*possibly) then? Never mind. I was going to say that it'll probably rain and you're better off tucked up on your sofa watching the action with a mug of tea and a packet of Hob Nobs. But I have to report that when I left home this morning - the Briggs abode being close enough to the track that the fat cats' helicopters were interfering with my television signal as I tried to watch Roary the Racing Car early this morning - the skies were a beautiful blue and not a drop of moisture threatened my 'do.Formula oneMotor sportBrawnToyotaFerrariToro RossoRed BullForce IndiaRenaultSauberWilliamsMcLarenLewis HamiltonJenson Buttonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Webber leads Red Bull one-two

• Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel take honours at Nürburgring• Felipe Massa finishes third with Jenson Button back in fifthMark Webber has won the German grand prix from pole, beating his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel into second place after strong challenges from Rubens Barrichello and third-placed Felipe Massa. The world championship leader Jenson Button finished in fifth place.It was Webber's maiden Formula One victory, on his 130th attempt, and Vettel's second-place finish cuts Button's championship lead to 21 points with eight races remaining. Button now has 68 points, Vettel moves up to second on 47 and Webber is third on 45.5.Lewis Hamilton had a bad day after being forced into the pits shortly after the start with a puncture. He made a strong start from fifth but ran wide after turn one. He returned to the track but was bumped from behind almost immediately.As the first Australian to win a grand prix since Alan Jones in 1981 in Las Vegas, Webber said: "It's an incredible day for me. I wanted to win so badly. The only thing I thought would beat me, or test me, would be the rain – but that held off. But it's a great day for me. The team have been incredibly patient with me, and I want to thank them and [owner] Dietrich [Mateschitz] and all the Australian people."Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Webber added: "There's no doubt about it, [the drivers' and constructors' championships] are both up for grabs. We're taking the fight to the big guys, who will be back. But it is a special time for our team, that's for sure."Vettel had no complaints with his second spot, saying: "He was unbeatable. But it's another one-two for the team, so I'm very happy. I wanted to win, but Mark did a better job in qualifying."Webber was deposed from pole on the first turn by Barrichello. The two clashed wheels, with the Brazilian coming out on top, and they led the pack for the next 10 laps until the stewards announced a drivethrough penalty for Webber for causing a collision, which he duly served at the end of lap 14. Barrichello made his first routine stop at the same time.Over the next few laps, with Massa and his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen heavy on fuel, they sandwiched Barrichello in first, second and third. The Finn eventually pitted at the end of lap 24, followed a lap later by Massa, allowing Barrichello to resume the lead, followed closely by the Force India of Adrian Sutil.The German had started from a career-high seventh on the grid, and was certainly in with a shout of giving his team their first points in their 27-race history. But after making his first stop at the end of lap 28, Sutil then emerged narrowly ahead of seventh-placed Raikkonen running down into turn one. As they swept round the sharp right-hand hairpin side by side, the Ferrari clipped the left side of the Force India's front wing, with the stewards again obliged to review the matter. It forced Sutil back into the pits at the end of that lap for a new nose cone, relegating him to 17th and out of the running for points.With the first round of stops finally completed at half-race distance, Barrichello held just a 2.8sec cushion over Webber. Button, running third at the time, pitted again on lap 31, as part of a clear three-stop strategy, unlike Barrichello who came in a lap later and was fuelled to the end.On lap 43, Webber made his third trip into the pits and second for fuel and tyres at a time when he held a 20-second lead over his team-mate Vettel – dropping in just behind the German. However, he soon regained the lead when Vettel pitted on lap 44 – soon followed by Massa on the 45th. On three-stop strategies and with the Brawn duo running in close attendance to one another, Barrichello surprisingly pitted first on lap 50 – followed by Button a lap later. Button then finished strongly to emerge just ahead of his team-mate in fifth place.Final positions1 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1hr 36min 43.310sec2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:36:52.5623 Felipe Massa (Br) Ferrari 1:36:59.2164 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:37:04.4095 Jenson Button (GB) Brawn GP 1:37:06.9196 Rubens Barrichello (Br) Brawn GP 1:37:07.7987 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Renault 1:37:08.1668 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:37:41.4029 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:37:44.71010 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:37:45.21011 Giancarlo Fisichella (It) Force India 1:37:45.63712 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:37:46.18713 Nelson Piquet Jr (Br) Renault 1:37:51.63814 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:37:52.86515 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:37:55.21016 Sébastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38:13.51017 Jarno Trulli (It) Toyota 1:38:14.21018 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren at 1 LapNot Classified: 19 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 34 Laps completed, 20 Sébastien Bourdais (Fr) Scuderia Toro Rosso 18 Laps completedWorld championship standings after German grand prix:Drivers: 1 Jenson Button (GB) Brawn GP 68pts, 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 47, 3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 45.5, 4 Rubens Barrichello (Br) Brawn GP 44, 5 Felipe Massa (Br) Ferrari 22, 6 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 21.5, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 20.5, 8 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 13, 9 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Renault 13, 10 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 10, 11 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 9, 12 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 6, 13 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 5, 14 Sébastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 15 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 2, 16 Sébastien Bourdais (Fr) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2, 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (It) Force India 0, 18 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 0, 19 Nelson Piquet Jr (Br) Renault 0, 20 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 0Manufacturers: 1 Brawn GP 112pts, 2 Red Bull 92.5, 3 Toyota 34.5, 4 Ferrari 32, 5 Williams 20.5, 6 McLaren 14, 7 Renault 13, 8 BMW Sauber 8, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 5, 10 Force India 0Formula OneRed BullBrawnMcLarenFerrariJenson ButtonSebastian VettelLewis HamiltonForce IndiaMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Jenson Button suffers qualifying blow

• Button to start from a season-low 14th, Lewis Hamilton 12th• Fisichella gives Force India their first Formula One poleJenson Button's Formula One world title hopes suffered a crushing blow in a bizarre qualifying session for tomorrow's Belgian grand prix. For the first time this year the championship leader failed to make it into the top-10 shootout, with the 29-year-old down in a season-low 14th.In a remarkable hour at the Spa circuit, Giancarlo Fisichella - the man being touted to replace the hapless Luca Badoer at Ferrari - gave Force India their first F1 pole, although it remains to be seen how much fuel is in the car. It is the veteran Italian's fourth pole of his career, and his first since Malaysia in 2006, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli second, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld third and Button's Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello fourth.Fisichella, whose previous best grid slot this year was 13th, was unable to explain his performance. "Pole position is amazing, fantastic," remarked the 36-year-old. "I'm so happy and thanks to the team who have done a great job. It's a remarkable result. I've shown what I can do. This is one of my favourite circuits, but I didn't expect to be on pole, in particular considering the budget of our team."Button offered a simple explanation for his poor display, conceding he "wasn't fast enough." He added: "It is pretty disastrous for tomorrow really. It's going to make it very difficult. I didn't have any pace on the soft tyres and every time I hit the brakes, the rear would move. I did not have any confidence in the rear end. It's strange to be four or five tenths [of a second] off Rubens. Our cars are different, but they are not that different."The 15-minute middle session was not just a disaster for Button, but also for Lewis Hamilton. The reigning world champion was unable to build on his victory in Hungary and pole at the European grand prix last weekend, qualifying down in 12th. His McLaren struggled in the twisty middle section of the track, whilst his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen fared worse and will start 15th, his second worst qualifying display this season. Renault's Fernando Alonso was another casualty in Q2 and was only 13th fastest.Luca Badoer, meanwhile, could be out of a job following tomorrow's race in the wake of another poor performance. The 38-year-old replacement for the recuperating Felipe Massa will again start at the back of the grid, as he did last weekend on his Ferrari debut in Valencia. Badoer ended the opening 20-minute Q1 by breaking the rear suspension of his car in careering backwards into a tyre wall after passing Sebastian Vettel on the approach to Les Combes. Renault's Romain Grosjean also struggled on his second outing, coming only one place better than Badoer in 19th.Leading grid positions after qualifying1 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1min 46.308secs, 2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:46.395, 3 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:46.500, 4 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:46.513, 5 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:46.586, 6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:46.633, 7 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:46.677, 8 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:46.761, 9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:46.788, 10 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:47.362, 11 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:45.119, 12 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:45.122, 13 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:45.136, 14 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:45.251, 15 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:45.259, 16 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:45.951, 17 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:46.032, 18 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:46.307, 19 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:46.359, 20 Luca Badoer (Ita) Ferrari 1:46.957Formula OneMotor sportJenson ButtonBrawnForce Indiaguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Vettel pips Button to Turkish GP pole

• Sebastian Vettel beats Jenson Button on final lap in Istanbul• Lewis Hamilton suffers oversteer and finishes a lowly 16thRed Bull's Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for the Turkish grand Prix ahead of Brawn GP's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in this afternoon's qualifying session at Istanbul Park.The 21-year-old German driver left it until the final lap to post his fastest time of 1min 28.316secs and denied Button a hat-trick of starts from the front of the grid.It is the third pole of the 21-year-old German's career, with both his victories to date coming from the front of the grid, in Italy last year and China this season."It's quite a surprise to be quickest in all three sessions, but finally we have made it and we are ahead of the white cars," said Vettel. "It's been quite an effort by the team because we had some parts arrive late, but they've fixed them on and we've made it."The 2008 champion, Lewis Hamilton, had another afternoon to forget as he continued to struggle with his car which former constructor Eddie Jordan described as "simply hopeless, possibly the worst McLaren have ever designed".Hamilton struggled with his steering at corner eight and spun out of qualifying on the first round. He will start tomorrow's grand prix facing an uphill battle from 16th on the grid."Welcome to my world," said Hamilton in a rare display of gallows humour. "It's the car. It has got slower and slower throughout the weekend as the track has got hotter. It looked great yesterday, but this morning it didn't look fantastic."I don't think we should rush anything. It's better we take our time to refine it. It's not like we can claw back 60 points [in the championship]."Vettel's Red Bull team-mate, Mark Webber, will start the race fourth on the grid, ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli and the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.Leading grid positions after qualifying1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 28.316secs, 2 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:28.421, 3 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:28.579, 4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:28.613, 5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:28.666, 6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:28.815, 7 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:28.858, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:29.075, 9 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:29.191, 10 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:29.357, 11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:27.521, 12 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:27.629, 13 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:27.795, 14 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:28.207, 15 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:28.391, 16 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:28.318, 17 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 1:28.582, 18 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:28.708, 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:28.717, 20 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:28.918Formula oneMotor sportLewis HamiltonMcLarenguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Lewis Hamilton's first pole of 2009

• Hamilton follows up win in Hungary with pole in Valencia• Heikki Kovalainen will start second in McLaren one-twoLewis Hamilton claimed his first pole position of the season as McLaren locked out the front row for tomorrow's European grand prix in Valencia.The reigning world champion, fresh from winning his first race of the season last time out in Hungary, posted a time of one minute 39.498 seconds to beat Heikki Kovalainen to top spot by less than a tenth of a second."Clearly, we have very, very good pace this weekend," said Hamilton. "We thought we would be competitive, but I don't think we thought we'd be on the front row. We've not had a one-two qualifying experience for quite a long time, so it's great to be here."Despite the turnaround in McLaren's fortunes, Hamilton insists there is no question of him getting carried away. "For sure, going into tomorrow we stand in the best position for a podium, but it all depends of strategy and how the start and the race goes."Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello will start behind Hamilton and Kovalainen in third, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel fourth and championship leader Jenson Button fifth. Home favourite Fernando Alonso will be disappointed with eighth place for Renault.Elsewhere, Adrian Sutil's rapid practice pace failed to convert into anything more than 12th on the grid for Force India, Renault debutant Romain Grosjean had to settle for 14th and Felipe Massa's stand-in Luca Badoer suffered a torrid return to Formula One. Back behind the wheel of a grand prix car for the first time in a decade, the 38-year-old Ferrari test driver qualified last on the grid."I was hoping for better, but that more or less was the range," the Italian said. "We were expecting this. One year without driving and a new track, what could I do? This race is a test. I have to be better in the next race."Positions after qualifying:1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1min 39.498secs, 2 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:39.532, 3 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:39.563, 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:39.789, 5 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:39.821, 6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:40.144, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:40.185, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:40.236, 9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:40.239, 10 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:40.512, 11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:38.826, 12 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:38.846, 13 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:38.991, 14 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:39.040, 15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.514, 16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:39.531, 17 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:39.795, 18 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:39.807, 19 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.925, 20 Luca Badoer (Ita) Ferrari 1:41.413Formula OneLewis HamiltonMcLarenMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds