The Milton Keynes based squad have enjoyed two wins and a further podium appearance in the last three years at this circuit, and could be on for more of the same tomorrow.
Mark Webber – the 2010 winner here – got the better of the challenging conditions and will line up second having been narrowly beaten by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
“It was a tight session today with very mixed conditions. The cars are difficult to handle when it's like that. In every session we went out the times were changing by up to five or six seconds per lap; there was a lot of standing water and aqua planning. I was happy I was competitive when it counted. You have to put it all on the line in Q3,” Webber said. He was also quick to downplay any disappointment of being beaten to pole position.
“Alonso put a lap together that was just that sniff better than mine, but I'm not standing here with any regrets about my lap. I'm happy with what I put on the table and front row was what we deserved.”
Reigning champion and the 2009 winner Sebastian Vettel was less happy with his performance and will start fourth.
“It was a tough day. It's raining again now and it will probably be the same weather again tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. It's going to be a long race. We are at the front which is good. It was difficult today and in the end we only got one lap when the conditions were at their best. I think I should have been a bit quicker, but that's life. It was the right call to red flag the session, it's a shame for everyone watching, but we cannot control the weather,” the double champion said.
Team boss Christian Horner was also quick to praise the British fans. “First of all, hats off to all the public who sat out for pretty much three hours in horrendous conditions.”
“Having navigated our cars into Q3, ultimately to qualify second and fourth is a really strong team result. Mark was so close to getting the pole, the rain just started to increase as he was completing his lap and he dropped a couple of tenths due to the rain, but nonetheless it was a great lap from him right at the end of Q3. Sebastian is right up there as well in P4. Hopefully it won't be so wet tomorrow for the race,” he added.
