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Mark Webber’s Formula One title hopes took a dive when he finished a disappointing fifth in qualifying for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Webber’s Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for the race after punching out a lap of 1:39.394.
Vettel snared his 10th pole of the season and dramatically increased his hopes of becoming the youngest world champion at 23 years of age.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who has a distant hope of taking a second championship, will start alongside Vettel after he stopped the clock at 1:39.425.
Series leader Fernando Alonso will start from third on the grid with a lap time four tenths of a second off the pace.
The second McLaren of reigning world champion Jenson Button was fourth quickest ahead of Webber, who trails Alonso by eight points in the championship.
Despite the disappointing result, Webber was not too downcast.
“I could not get the pace. We are still in the hunt, that’s the main thing,” Webber said.
“It is disappointing but there is still a long way to go. The fat lady has not sung yet.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said later that tyres had been an issue for Webber.
“It hasn’t come together for Mark, the second lap was going to be the optimum lap,” Horner said.
“Mark has lost out to Jenson by a tenth.
“The job for Sebastian is quite clear. Sebastian has to get his head down and get on with it. Mark has to beat Alonso.”
Vettel became just the seventh driver in Formula One history to claim 10 pole positions in one season.
“It couldn’t be better but the conditions were a little bit tricky,” Vettel said.
“Yesterday in the afternoon in the practice we didn’t look too good and we were not 100 per cent happy but I think we took a big step forward today.
“It will be a long race for everyone and we just need to take it step by step,” he said.
Alonso said the race would not be won at the first corner but there was a good chance it could be lost with an impulsive move.
He also said traffic had been a problem on his hot run.
“The first attempt was not great, there was some traffic in the first sector but I knew that with a second set of tyres there would be some potential to come,” Alonso said.
“We know the situation and we know the contenders and I think everything is up to tomorrow’s race.
“Anything can happen in the race – we’ve seen in the last two or three some changes. The Red Bulls are very strong still but in Brazil we had some problems with pit stops so we need to complete the 55 laps without any problem.”
Beside Webber is the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa who is set to play a crucial role in helping Alonso take a third world crown.
Hamilton almost came unstuck when he played a risky game in the second session.
Attempting to overtake Massa, Hamilton found himself squeezed off the track and ran straight over a rubber bollard.
It was Vettel who headed the pack in that second run as he became the first driver all weekend to slip under the one minute 40 second mark.
The German stopped the clock at 1:39.874 and was surprised to find Jenson Button, who eventually slipped two places, behind him in second spot, trailing by less than two tenths of a second.
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