Webber ready to launch title challenge

Mark Webber was bidding to buck one recent trend and follow another here on Sunday when he lined his Red Bull car up in pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The 33-year-old Australian, widely respected as one of the toughest, most talented and determined drivers in the pit-lane, has proved his durability by not only fighting back from career-threatening injuries last year, but also competing on level terms with his team-mate, F1’s latest wunderkind Sebastian Vettel.

The German youngster, at just 22, has already been tipped as the natural successor to Michael Schumacher - one of his friends and mentors - and had grabbed pole in three out of the four season-opening flyaway races.

But on Saturday, Vettel came up against a hugely-focussed force in Webber’s drive for success - and admitted he was unable to outpace him in a thrilling qualifying session dominated by the two Red Bull drivers.

‘My congratulations to Mark, he was not beatable today,’ said Vettel. ‘It was close and I think I had good laps throughout qualifying, especially at the end, but it was just not enough.’

As the sun rose over the Circuit de Catalunya and thousands of fans began to stream into the circuit from Barcelona via the spider-web of motorways that surround it, it was the two Red Bull drivers who were the centre of attention.

Not even the prospect of seeing local hero two-times champion Fernando Alonso starting fourth on the grid in his first outing on European soil for Ferrari could overshadow the impact of Red Bull’s supremacy in speed.

After clocking times that lifted them a second clear of all opposition, they had established themselves as not just favourites for this race, but also the title race, currently led by defending champion Briton Jenson Button, 30, of McLaren ahead of Mercedes’ German prodigy Nico Rosberg, 24.

The Catalan circuit, with its long high-speed straight, sweeping high-speed corners and tight and twisty sections, is widely regarded as the most accurate test of a car’s performance potential - and the race winning result is equally seen as a signal of the likely outcome in the championship.

More pertinently for Sunday’s 66-laps contest, Webber was mindful - if not superstitious - that the last nine Spanish Grands Prix had been won by the pole-sitter, but that this season the pole-man had yet to turn that advantage into victory after four races.

Oddly, too, Red Bull had taken pole each time (Vettel three, Webber one) yet the team’s only win came in Malaysia where the German won from third on the grid and the Australian, on pole, came second.

Mechanical and human failings notwithstanding, this race looked in prospect to be, as Button put it, ‘a walk in the park’ for the Red Bull men with the rest scrapping for third place and points.