New Delhi: Force India's Adrian Sutil and Vitantonia Liuzzi gave much to cheer on Saturday as they qualified in fourth and 10th positions respectively for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, while Red Bull's Mark Webber took pole after a see-saw qualifying session saw the top four drivers relegated to bottom eight of the grid.
Jarno Trulli, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were all eliminated in the first qualifying session as rain played havoc at Sepang. Title holder Jenson Button managed to make the cut for the second qualifying session, but could not make his way out as his car stalled and will start at 17th position on Sunday.
Indian driver Karun Chandhok will start the race in 22nd place, while Alonso, Hamilton and Massa will start 19th, 20th and 21st on the grid.
The final qualifying session of the day was stopped in the eighth minute after heavy rains lashed the circuit and there was huge amounts of standing water at some places. All drivers returned to the pits after Race Control determined it was too dangerous to continue.
But the rain soon subsided and the cars burnt rubber yet again. Sutil put on a super show and put in a top time to lead the tally before Webber went two seconds better moments before the qualifying came to an end.
This is the third straight pole for Red Bull this seasons and Webber's first pole of the year. Teammate Sebastian Vettel will start third on the grid, while Nico Rosberg of Mercedez will be second.
Heavy rains are expected during Sunday's race, but this is the first time in many races that both Ferrari and McLaren will not start among the top 10 in the grid.
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