Lewis Hamilton stormed to the pole position for the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix while championship leader Sebastian Vettel missed the front row for the first time in third place and title rival Fernando Alonso had to settle for seventh.
The 2011 race winner Hamilton clocked 1 minute 40.630 seconds in his McLaren on the floodlit 5.554-kilometre Yas Marina course, his second pole there and sixth of the season.
Mark Webber was second for Red Bull in 1:40.978 and his teammate Vettel had 1:41.073 after being on the front at the first three editions of the race, which he won in 2009 and 2010.
Vettel has turned a 39-point deficit on Alonso into a 13-point lead by winning the last four races, in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and India. He has led every lap of the last three races as he eyes a third straight world title.
