Qualifying - Vettel takes vital Yas Marina pole

Sebastian Vettel will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just where he wants, on pole position after lapping his Red Bull in 1m 39.394s. But the most important qualifying session of the year was a major disappointment for the team mate Mark Webber who managed only fifth place in 1m 39.925s and will be separated from Vettel by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Earlier, Hamilton had been fortunate to avoid the contact with Felipe Massa when, after a big slide on his first lap in Q2, he’d had to back off the pace and resumed just as the Ferrari was alongside. The former champion walloped a camera pole, but his McLaren did not sustain any damage and he recovered his momentum brilliantly to lap second quickest before his time eventually left him fifth in that session.

He already held second place as Q3 drew to its close, but trimmed his time down to 1m 39.425s to demonstrate to Vettel that he may yet have a race on his hands on Sunday. Alonso’s late improvement was bad news for Webber. The Spaniard lapped in 1m 39.792s to jump to third, ahead of Button on 1m 39.823s.

Webber will share row three with Massa, who lapped his F10 in 1m 40.202s, while Williams’ Rubens Barrichello’s 1m 40.203s left him seventh ahead of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg on 1m 40.516s and 1m 40.589s respectively. Like Massa, both suffered in late-session traffic. Vitaly Petrov was 10th for Renault, with 1m 40.901s.

Vettel redefined the ante in Q2 with the fastest lap of the weekend thus far in 1m 39.874s, ahead of the revitalised Button, Rosberg, Webber and Hamilton. Further back, Robert Kubica surprisingly failed to make Q3, taking 11th place behind team mate Petrov with 1m 40.780s in a Renault that still seemed not to be running as well as it did on Friday.

Fernando Alonso has F1 title in his own hands

Fernando Alonso has the championship lead on his side as he aims to clinch the Formula One (F1) world title in a historic finale Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

But in a season of roller-coaster rides for all the stars, Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton are also in the frame.

It is the first time in F1 history that four drivers are in the title race ahead of the season-ender.

A simple engine failure in Alonso's Ferrari could for instance open the door for the others, he may be shunted off the track by another driver, make a mistake himself or have yet another negative experience with the safety car as has happened already three times this season.

However, Alonso has a third career title in his own hands as championship leader. He has amassed 246 points from 18 of 19 races, with Webber on 238, Vettel on 231 and Hamilton on 222.

Under the current system, the top 10 drivers get points in a 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 format.

Alonso has done his maths and says 'I just need to finish second. It does not matter who wins in Abu Dhabi if I finish second'.

The Spaniard can also afford third place if Webber does not win, and fourth or fifth if Webber and Vettel do not win.

Webber will secure the trophy if he wins and Alonso comes no better than third. A team order of sorts may be used if Vettel leads from Webber and Alonso in the final lap, as Ferrari also ordered Felipe Massa to let Alonso pass for victory at the German GP.

Webber: I need another win for the title

Championship leader Mark Webber says he must take with another race victory this season as he looks to secure his first Formula One drivers’ title. Webber extended his standings lead in Suzuka on Sunday, but has not won a Grand Prix since Hungary back in August.

“I need to win again in the future,” said Webber after his second-place finish behind Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel in Japan. “I’m very confident I can do that, and that would be beneficial, of course, but also reliability can still yet play a role, many things, circumstances, lots of different things.”

Webber has benefitted from the intense competition in recent races between Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren. His consistency - podiums at four of the last five rounds - combined with Lewis Hamilton’s misfortunes, Fernando Alonso’s renaissance and Vettel’s Suzuka win have seen the Australian’s points advantage grow from just five after Monza to 11 after Singapore and 14 after Japan.

“Two weeks ago (my main rival) was Lewis, then it was Fernando - it’s chopping and changing, but the most important thing is that the gap is going the right way,” continued Webber. “I need to keep it like that. We’ve got three races to go and it’s a good result for me.”

Nevertheless, with 75 points still up for grabs from the remaining races in Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, and with five drivers still in contention for the title, Webber knows he can take nothing for granted.

“As we’ve seen this year, five of us are capable of winning races,” he added. “Well, four in the dry - Jenson’s (Button) had a few races in the wet conditions - but in the dry conditions it’s been four of us who can win.”