F1: Webber King Of Korea Qualifying

Formula 1

F1: Webber King Of Korea Qualifying

Mark Webber edged teammate Sebastian Vettel in qualifying for Sunday's Korean GP...

Jared Turner | Posted October 13, 2012 Yeongam (KOR)

Sebastian Vettel arrived in Korea this weekend fresh off back-to-back Grand Prix victories.

Then, true to his recent form, the Red Bull driver went out and paced two of three practice sessions.

But when it came time to qualify, it was another Red Bull driver — Australian Mark Webber — on top of the stack.

Waiting until it really mattered to flex his true muscle, Webber took P1 for Sunday's Korean GP grid with a lap of 1:37:242 in the final Q3 qualifying segment at Korea International Circuit.

"Very, very happy to get the job done today and get the pole position," said Webber, who is chasing his third win of 2012. "It was a reasonable lap, and we did it when it counted, obviously. That's what qualifying's all about."

Vettel, who had been widely expected to lead Saturday's qualifying runs, clocked in only second best with a lap of 1:37:316 that gave Red Bull a 1-2 qualifying sweep for the second straight week.

"Second is a very good position to start from," said the German, who won in Formula One's second trip to Korea one year ago. "It could be interesting tomorrow."

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was third but never seriously challenged the Red Bulls.

"We've just got to keep pushing," Hamilton said. "We're not far off."

World Championship leader Fernando Alonso and Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen completed the top five.

Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher filled out the rest of the top 10.

Mark Webber paced qualifying on Saturday in Korea. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Surprisingly absent from the top 10 — and Q3 — was 2009 World Champion Jenson Button, whose McLaren was only good enough for 11th on the grid.

Button had failed to reach Q3 on only two other occasions this season.

"Hopefully, we can only go forward from here," the dejected Briton said regarding his prospects for Sunday.

Entering the Korean GP, Alonso leads the drivers' standings by four points over Vettel, a winner last weekend in Japan and two weeks earlier in Singapore.

Raikkonen (-37), Hamilton (-42) and Webber (-60) make up the rest of the top five and remain mathematically in title contention.

Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton each own a season-high three victories, while Webber and Button, both with two victories, are the season's other repeat winners.

SPEED's coverage of Formula One in Korea continues at 1:30 a.m. ET Sunday with a half-hour prerace show live from the grid, followed by racing at 2 a.m.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.