Vettel reigns in Spain with fourth pole

SEBASTIAN Vettel will look to end an unhappy trend this year after capturing his fourth pole position this season for today's European Grand Prix in Valencia. From his three previous poles Vettel, below, has failed to win, with his only victory coming from third on the grid in Malaysia.

But on a track which was not expected to suit Red Bull Racing, the team secured their fourth lock-out of the front row as Mark Webber will start second.

As his team exclaimed "welcome back" over the radio, Vettel was certainly happy to be there. "The last couple of races we've not had a smooth run," he said.

"In Canada and here, the tracks should not suit us, so it's good we're able to put the car on pole. It's looking quite good. So I'm on pole, and I'm very happy for today."

Webber, who had beaten his team-mate in qualifying in the last four races, said: "It wasn't good enough. It would be nice to be the other way around, but you can't do it all the time, so it's a credit to the team we're both on the front row. Let's see how tomorrow goes, but I'm very optimistic for the race."

Britain's Lewis Hamilton, though, appeared to be the most content with his third place on the grid, in particular after making a minor mess of his final lap.

He said: "I'm really happy to be here. I feel so fortunate. We knew other teams would bring updates, and we saw from practice we were quite a long way behind."

Behind Hamilton come the Ferraris of home hero Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, with Renault's Robert Kubica sixth on the grid, with a struggling Jenson Button seventh in his McLaren.

Williams managed to get both cars into the top ten, with Nico Hulkenberg pipping last year's winner Rubens Barrichello, with Renault's Vitaly Petrov tenth.