Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, Renault's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber make their preparations for the final practice session ahead of Sunday's European Grand Prix at Valencia's Juan Carlos I marina circuit
Jenson Button pulls out of his garage for Saturday's practice session - the Englishman made the most of the high track temperatures on Friday as he got good heat into his Brawn's tyres and laid down some quick lap times
The Spanish fans lap up the on-track action with the majority of home support likely to be getting behind Spaniard Fernando Alonso, while they also have 19-year old Toro Rosso rookie Jaime Alguersuari to root for
Home hero Alonso cruises around the picturesque Valencia marina circuit in his Renault - many people are tipping the Spanish double world champion to go all out for pole in front of his adoring compatriots
Force India's Adrian Sutil is the surprise pace-setter in the opening exchanges of Saturday's practice session - the German will be hoping to grab the Silverstone-based team's first ever points on Sunday
But the final practice session is turned on its head when Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull suffers an engine failure and pours oil all over the track - causing the session to be red-flagged and ending it entirely for the young German
A lengthy delay ensues as the track marshals work hard to cover the oil with a white gritty powder - the result is a striking white snake weaving its way from Turn 18 right through to Turn 24 on the Valencia circuit
Fernando Alonso negotiates the 'Vettel oil stripe' as the drivers re-emerge after a 25-minute delay for some fast and furious action in the five minutes that remain of the scheduled hour-long final practice session
Adrian Sutil continues to show his pre-delay pace and clocks the fastest time of a topsy-turvy session in the closing stages - it's the first time this season that a Force India car has topped the practice time-sheets
Ferrari turn to Luca Badoer to step into Felipe Massa's race seat, but the 38-year old journeyman looks woefully off the pace as he qualifies last in 20th position - a full second and a half slower than his nearest rival
McLaren catch the eye on Spain's east coast. They are unrecognisable from their early season woes and look to have the pace to really put a cat amongst the championship-chasing pigeons in Sunday's European Grand Prix
Championship leader Jenson Button is hoping to make hay in the Spanish sunshine but the Brawn man can't compete with the masterly McLarens and has to settle for starting Sunday's race from fifth place on the grid
Red Bull's Vettel bounces back from his engine failure in practice to qualify fourth - but both he and his team-mate Mark Webber, who qualified ninth, seemed far from comfortable with their car's set-up
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton continues his sparkling return to form by grabbing pole position in Valencia to follow up his race win in Hungary - his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen secures second to complete an all-McLaren front row
Hamilton is all smiles after securing his first pole of the season, the revamped McLaren looking impressive around Valencia's slow to medium-paced corners and Hamilton will take some beating in Sunday's race
Heikki Kovalainen could have stolen Hamilton's pole in the closing stages but the Finn overcooks the final corner and starts in second position with Brawn's Brazilian speedster Rubens Barrichello qualifying third fastest
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