Shanghai, China - Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel seized his fourth pole position in a row for Red Bull at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.
Britain's Jenson Button, winner in China in 2010 after Vettel also set pole in that race, will start second on the grid on Sunday with McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton third and Nico Rosberg fourth for Mercedes.
The end of the final qualifying session though, proved rather anti-climatic as both Vettel and Button came in early from the final attempts after it became clear McLaren's Hamilton would not claim the pole position.
Vettel won the first two races for 2011 in Australia and Malaysia from pole.
QUALIFYING SESSION RESULTS
- Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1min33.706
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 1min34.421
- Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1min34.463
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes-Benz, 1min34.670
- Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1min35.119
- Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1min35.145
- Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1min36.158
- Paul di Resta, Force India, 1min36.190
- Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1min36.203
- Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1min35.149
- Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1min35.874
- Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1min36.053
- Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 1min36.240
- Michael Schumacher, Mercedes-Benz, 1min36.457
- Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1min36.465
- Nick Heidfeld, Renault, 1min36.611
- Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1min36.956
- Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1min36.468
- Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, 1min37.894
- Jarno Trulli, Lotus, 1min38.318
- Jerome d'Ambrosio, Virgin, 1min39.119
- Timo Glock, Virgin, 1min39.708
- Antonio Liuzzi, HRT, 1min40.212
- Narain Karthikeyan, HRT, 1min40.445