Hello and welcome to ESPNF1's coverage of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Can Mark Webber finally beat his team-mate Sebastian Vettel to pole position? And will McLaren get in the mix after encouraging times yesterday? We're going to find out in just under 20 minutes.

Vettel was the fastest man in final practice this morning, just pipping his team-mate despite having an engine problem that limited him to just one flying lap at the end of the session. Ominous signs.

There's a slight cloud hanging over this weekend though, as the FIA has delayed a ban on the use of off-throttle exhaust gases which they believe are being used illegally. With Virgin and HRT not running the system, the FIA's technical delegate Charlie Whiting has admitted that all of the other teams are open to a protest against them.

If you have an opinion on any of the ongoings since Turkey, and a prediction on today's qualifying session, along with any question for us then get in touch using the link above or via Twitter @ESPNF1_live.

It's been a busy afternoon for Renault, as they have to try and repair Nick Heidfeld's car after a fire in practice this morning. Eric Boullier just told the BBC that he hopes Heidfeld will be able to make it out in to qualifying.

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Q1 has plenty going on too, as the differential between the new hard and soft tyres means most teams will have to use a set of softs during the first session. That in turn will see quicker lap times and potentially Virgin and HRT struggling to make the 107% cut off time.

There's a good crowd in making the most of the sunshine. It's 24C air temperature with a warmer 34C track temperature.

And qualifying is underway. 20 minutes to decide the last six places on the grid, and Narain Karthikeyan is first out, followed by team-mate Liuzzi and d'Ambrosio in the Virgin.

If we see times set around 1m23s in Q1, then the HRTs and Virgins will need to set a lap time inside 1m28.8s.

And Karthikeyan sets his first lap time, a 1:28.981, followed by Liuzzi with a 1:28.823.

Those times were set on soft tyres, Petrov has just done a 1:28.823 on the much slower hard tyre.

Petrov improves second time round, a 1:26.107.

Button, Sutil, Webber, Alonso, Massa, Vettel, Maldonado, Di Resta, Schumacher and Rosberg all out on track now.

Timo Glock goes second with a 1:28.369, before Sutil goes 0.2s quicker.

Petrov going quicker again - a 1:25.621 showing how well the harder tyre lasts.

Maldonado goes second and di Resta third ahead of Sutil.

Jenson Button sets a 1:24.708 on hard tyres. Already the 107% time is dropping quickly, it currently stands at 1:30.637

Webber goes fastest, a 1:23.938 on hard tyres. Alonso has gone fourth quickest.

The big question is can anyone other than Red Bull get through without using a set of soft tyres?

Vettel sets the 2nd fastest time, 0.3s slower than Webber who is going quicker on his second lap.

Webber improves to a 1:23.619. Alguersuari uses soft tyres to go 2nd fastest, while Hamilton slides wide at turn seven and bounces across a hefty kerb.

Hamilton recovers to set a 1:24.370 on his next lap, fourth quickest so far.

Buemi starts a flying lap on soft tyres. 107% time currently stands at 1:29.472, with the HRT's just 0.5s inside it.

Heidfeld is looking less and less likely to get out and qualify. No floor on his Renault at present.

Buemi goes 2nd, a 1:23.962 putting him 0.1s ahead of his team-mate.

Massa only manages a 1:26.132, so he's going to need to do another lap with 6 minutes left.

Kobayashi is on a lap on soft tyres, and sets the fastest middle sector.

Heikki Kovalainen sets a 1:25.874 to go 13th fastest. Lotus are quicker with an upgraded exhaust but aren't quite on the midfield pace yet.

Kobayashi went second quickest overall, 0.04s slower than Webber who has put soft tyres on his Red Bull in the garage.

Heidfeld is sat in his car, but it isn't anywhere near being ready. Will have to be a special effort from Renault to get him out in time.

Petrov has soft tyres on, which is going to put him quickest...

And he does with a 1:23.069. Liuzzi has improved to a 1:27.809 and Karthikeyan a 1:28.369 so they are through as it stands.

Maldonado goes 2nd quickest with a 1:23.406, while d'Ambrosio sets the slowest time just 0.3s ahead of the 107% cut off.

Jarno Trulli is yet to set a time, and has just left the pits for a late run.

Kovalainen has beaten Barrichello as the Williams is sat in the garage...

Heidfeld hasn't got out of the garage, so he'll start last. Di Resta jumps out of the drop zone up to 10th.

Mercedes and Ferrari have both used soft tyres even though Heidfeld hasn't gone out, meaning they only had to beat the bottom three teams.

Schumacher set the new fastest time with a 1:22.960, leaving the 107% cut off at 1:28.767 - all of the drivers made it through, d'Ambrosio by just 0.2s.

Barrichello had a gearbox problem and was unable to get out again. That means Kovalainen has made it through to Q2 in the Lotus.

Trulli managed to get a lap in and beat Barrichello as well, so he'll start 18th. Glock was ahead of the HRT paid of Liuzzi and Karthikeyan with d'Ambrosio 1.3s slower than his team-mate.

MyTeamLotus on Twitter: "YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Q2 for Heikki!!!!!!!!!!"

They may be excited, but Kovalainen was 1.2s slower than the next car and Barrichello was unable to do a lap on the soft tyre. Still made the most of the opportunity though.

Barrichello and Heidfeld will have a lot of tyres spare for tomorrow's race. Don't forget Kobayashi managed to get up to tenth from 24th on the grid in Turkey.

The green light is on at the end of the pit lane to mark the start of Q2. And a quiet start it is...

Mike Gascoyne on Twitter: "Sensible option is to save the tyres as not much chance of better than 17th, but this is racing so time to go for it"

The track temperature has been steadily climbing, now at 40C. Not that anyone is using the tarmac at the moment, mind...

Vettel has soft tyres on, and leaves the garage to be the first man on track. Finally.

Webber follows him out on to track, and then Alguersuari joins the fun. Exciting out laps going on.

Massa, Button and Hamilton leave the pits.

Vettel starts his flying lap, and is flat out through turn three.

Nine cars ont rack now, and Vettel has to negotiate a Ferrari and a McLaren who clearly get out of his way. He sets a 1:21.540 without even using his KERS...

Webber follows Vettel across the line with a 1:21.773, while Alguersuari does a 1:24.091.

Vettel has a problem with KERS, but it isn't slowing him down. Button does a 1:22.050 to go third, 0.1s quicker than Hamilton.

A 1:22.813 for Alonso, and Massa is another 0.2s further back.

Sergio Perez goes 9th with a 1:24.129, a tenth shy of Alguersuari. Buemi has done a 1:23.231 for 7th so far.

Kobayashi goes 8th with a 1:23.702. Rosberg and Petrov are also out on track.

Kovalainen, di Resta, Sutil, Maldonado and Schumacher are yet to go out.

Rosberg starts his flying lap as Schumacher leaves the pits.

Everyone is running on soft tyres now, no room for the much slower hards anymore.

Rosberg goes fifth, a 1:22.569 being a second slower than Vettel.

Petrov goes 7th on a 1:22.948.

Red Bull say KERS is not available for Vettel to use at the moment. We wait to see if it will be in Q3.

Schumacher, Sutil, Di Resta, Maldonado and Kovalainen are now on track.

Schumacher goes sixth with a 1:22.671, ahead of both Ferraris.

Very slow laps from both Force Indias, set on hard tyres to try and beat Kovalainen and save tyres.

Maldonado goes 8th with a 1:22.854. Massa is in the pits and could be missing out on Q3 here...

Kobayashi, Alguersuari and Perez are out on laps...

Alguersuari and Perez can't get in the top ten, both exchanging places for 12th.

Kovalainen beats both Force India's for provisional 15th...

Kobayashi pits after a slow middle sector, so Massa sneaks through in 10th.

The men out are: Buemi, Perez, Alguersuari, Kobayashi, Kovalainen, di Resta and Sutil.

Impressive performance from Maldonado to get his Williams in to the top ten, a confidence booster for the Venezuelan. And Lotus will be delighted to beat Force India, albeit using different tyres.

Mike Gascoyne on Twitter says: "Job heikki, job". Quite.

The upside of Massa scraping through is a set of tyres saved for Q3.

Kovalainen tells the BBC it was a good choice to go for grid position, and good experience when Lotus can get there on pace alone in the future.

So Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Massa, Schumacher, Rosberg, Petrov and Maldonado will battle it out for pole as the final session starts.

I say battle it out for pole, more like the rest will fight for 3rd behind the Red Bull pair. But who will be on pole, Webber of Vettel?

Button and Hamilton leave the pits for what you would expect will be their only runs. Vettel joins them, so maybe we will see two runs from the leading teams.

Webber is also on track. It looks like Mercedes, Ferrari, Petrov and Maldonado will wait to do one flying lap at the end of the session. 7 minutes left...

InsideFerrari on Twitter: "We will have only one set to use, as well as other four people. Red Bull and McLaren have two sets available"

Button's first sector is a 23.1, just bettered by Hamilton behind him

Vettel is half a second quicker in the first sector. Ridiculous.

Hamilton 0.2s up on Button

Button completes the first flying lap, a 1:21.996, Hamilton does a 1:21.961

Here comes Vettel...

A 1:21.181. Webber is quick behind him...

Brilliant lap from Webber, a 1:20.981 puts him on provisional pole. A second quicker than McLaren.

A replay with Hamilton shows him locking up heavily in to turn ten, flat spotting his tyre. That will hurt him tomorrow.

There is a battle between the Red Bull drivers going on, as a new set of soft tyres go on to both Vettel and Webber's cars.

Schumacher, Rosberg, Alonso and Maldonado out on track.

Surprisingly Schumacher is on the hard tyre.

Cancel that, Webber has pole. Both Red Bull drivers climb out of their cars. That's right, Sebastian Vettel is NOT on pole.

Rosberg starts his flying lap. Massa has joined the other four on track.

Schumacher pits, so that he can start on the hard tyre if he wishes.

Maldonado goes provisional fifth, but is then beaten by Rosberg by 0.4s

Alonso beats Button to fourth on a 1:21.964, just 0.003s slower than Hamilton.

Massa goes seventh, and then Petrov goes sixth ahead of Rosberg by 0.1s

So Mark Webber takes pole position from Sebastian Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton third a full second behind the pole-sitter. Alonso comes over the radio celevrating his fourth place and celebrates to the fans on his way back to the pits. He's delighted with beating Button and calles it a "super lap". Almost a second quicker than Massa.

Alonso is a lot happier than Webber looks. The pole sitter stern faced as he walks out to celebrate his pole.

The top three pose for photos, they'll start ahead of Alonso, Button, Petrov, Rosberg, Massa, Maldonado and Schumacher.

So, finally Webber breaks Vettel's stranglehold on pole position. The Red Bull pair are in good shape ahead of the race as they finish so far ahead of third place man Hamilton. Can McLaren close the gap in the race? And can Webber convert his pole in to a victory as he did twelve months ago? Join us tomorrow for the Spanish Grand Prix to find out.