BARCELONA, Spain - Lewis Hamilton took his third F1 pole position of the 2012 season and the 150th of McLaren's Formula 1 history during qualifying for the Spanish GP on Saturday.
(A later stewards' decision stripped him of his place and relegated him to last on the grid.
Hamilton, the 2008 World champion, clocked a best lap of 1min21.707 to finish a half-second clear of his nearest rival, Williams' Pastor Maldonado, at the end of a closely contested and very tactical session.
SPANIARDS DELIGHTED
It was a great present for team founder Frank Williams who was celebrating his 70th birthday in the team garage. Hamilton's third pole of the season was the 22nd of his career and stretched his run of front row starts to five in a row.
Fernando Alonso delighted his Spanish home fans when he claimed third place for Ferrari ahead of French Lotus driver Romain Grosjean and team mate Kimi Raikkonen of Finland.
Sauber's Sergio Perez was sixth ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and, unexpectedly, defending champion Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel will line up only eighth.
Mercedes' Michael Schumacher was ninth and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi 10th.
Both Vettel and Schumacher chose not to clock a competitive time in Q3 on a day when it was clear that many teams and drivers were more interested in preserving as many sets of tyres as possible in preference to claiming a strong grid position.
Stay with Wheels24 for the Spanish Grand Prix weekend
2012 Spanish GP grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren (later stripped of pole and relegated to 24th on the grid).
2 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari
4 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus
6 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber
7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes
8 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull
9 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes
10 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber
11 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren
12 Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull
13 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India
14 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India
15 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso
16 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso
17 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari
18 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams
19 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham
21 Charles Pic (France) Marussia
22 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT
24 Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT
Qualifying results ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1min21.707 (later stripped of pole and relegated to 24th on the grid)
2 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1min22.285
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min22.302
4 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 1min22.424
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 1min22.487
6 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 1min22.533
7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min23.005
8 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull No Q3 time
9 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes No Q3 time
10 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber No Q3 time
11 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min22.944
12 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min22.977
13 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 1min23.125
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India 1min23.177
15 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1min23.265
16 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1min23.442
17 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min23.444
18 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams 1min24.981
19 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham 1min25.277
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham 1min25.507
21 Charles Pic (France) Marussia 1min26.582
22 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia 1min27.032
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT 1min27.555
DNQ Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 1min31.122
Practice results
(A later stewards' decision stripped him of his place and relegated him to last on the grid.
Hamilton, the 2008 World champion, clocked a best lap of 1min21.707 to finish a half-second clear of his nearest rival, Williams' Pastor Maldonado, at the end of a closely contested and very tactical session.
SPANIARDS DELIGHTED
It was a great present for team founder Frank Williams who was celebrating his 70th birthday in the team garage. Hamilton's third pole of the season was the 22nd of his career and stretched his run of front row starts to five in a row.
Fernando Alonso delighted his Spanish home fans when he claimed third place for Ferrari ahead of French Lotus driver Romain Grosjean and team mate Kimi Raikkonen of Finland.
Sauber's Sergio Perez was sixth ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and, unexpectedly, defending champion Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel will line up only eighth.
Mercedes' Michael Schumacher was ninth and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi 10th.
Both Vettel and Schumacher chose not to clock a competitive time in Q3 on a day when it was clear that many teams and drivers were more interested in preserving as many sets of tyres as possible in preference to claiming a strong grid position.
Stay with Wheels24 for the Spanish Grand Prix weekend
2012 Spanish GP grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren (later stripped of pole and relegated to 24th on the grid).
2 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari
4 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus
6 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber
7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes
8 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull
9 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes
10 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber
11 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren
12 Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull
13 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India
14 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India
15 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso
16 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso
17 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari
18 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams
19 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham
21 Charles Pic (France) Marussia
22 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT
24 Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT
Qualifying results ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1min21.707 (later stripped of pole and relegated to 24th on the grid)
2 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1min22.285
3 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1min22.302
4 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 1min22.424
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 1min22.487
6 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 1min22.533
7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min23.005
8 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull No Q3 time
9 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes No Q3 time
10 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber No Q3 time
11 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1min22.944
12 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1min22.977
13 Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 1min23.125
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India 1min23.177
15 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 1min23.265
16 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1min23.442
17 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1min23.444
18 Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams 1min24.981
19 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham 1min25.277
20 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham 1min25.507
21 Charles Pic (France) Marussia 1min26.582
22 Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia 1min27.032
23 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT 1min27.555
DNQ Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 1min31.122
Practice results