Valencia delight for Red Bull's Vettel

After a mistake compromised his first qualifying run, the German takes pole with a perfect second effort with teammate Webber and Hamilton in tow.

Sebastian Vettel will start today's European Grand Prix in Valencia from pole position after setting the fastest time in yesterday's qualifying session on his final lap.

VALENCIA // From the moment he felt the car slip sideways, he knew he had left himself only a single shot at pole position - but Sebastian Vettel did not waste it. A mistake compromised his first qualifying run at the Valencia street circuit yesterday, but his second effort was perfect. The German's lap of 1min 37.587sec was just enough to shade teammate Mark Webber and earn Red Bull-Renault their eighth pole position of the season.

Many teams have introduced significant mid-season upgrades for this weekend's Grand Prix of Europe, but so far these have not significantly altered the balance of power. Vettel acknowledged he had not expected to challenge for pole. "In theory this kind of circuit shouldn't really be our strongest," he said. "But the car looks very good. I had a huge moment in the first sector on my opening run in the final part of qualifying, so knew I'd have to throw everything at the second. It worked, though. With our new F-duct and a few other bits and pieces added to the car, the mechanics only slept for an hour or two last night. This is the best way to say thanks."

His second lap was enough to edge Webber by just 0.075sec for his first pole since China in April. "I'm not going to roll out a list of excuses," Webber said. "I just wasn't quick enough. If you were to pick a circuit on which to race the opposition you probably wouldn't choose this one, but this is a sensational result for Red Bull. I know we keep going on about what a good job everybody at the team is doing, but you just have to look at the mechanics' eyes to see how hard they've been working."

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was surprised to be third after a mistake on his final lap - he locked his McLaren's rear wheels at Turn 12 - cost him any chance of an improvement. "We were quite a long way off in free practice this morning and with all our main rivals having made changes to their cars I thought we might struggle," he said. "After my mistake at the end, I also doubted that I'd be able to hang on to third, so all in all I'm delighted."

Teammate Jenson Button was down in seventh, behind both Ferraris and Robert Kubica's Renault, but it was an encouraging day for Williams-Toyota after a recent run of dismal form. In their 100th race since its most recent win (Brazil 2004), the team put both its cars in the top 10, with rookie Nico Hülkenberg and Rubens Barrichello posting identical 1min 38.428sec laps. The German did it first, though, and will start one place ahead in eighth.

For all the raft of updates it has made to their cars, it was a depressing day for Mercedes GP as Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher both failed to make it through the second phase of qualifying. "We are not making the tyres work well at the moment," said Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team boss. "We are pushing very hard to develop the car - and in pushing so hard, you sometimes trip up." So far this weekend, there has been no sign of a significant performance gap between different tyre compounds - one of the elements that made the previous grand prix in Canada so enthralling - and Hirohide Hamashima, the Bridgestone motorsport development director, anticipates a quieter race.

Despite their controversial collision in Turkey last month, however, the Red Bull drivers have no plans for a peaceful Sunday drive today. "If there's a chance to pass, I'll go for it," Webber said. "That's what I've done throughout my career and nothing has changed." @Email:[e-mail]