FORMULA ONE

• Webber edges Hamilton for pole in Turkey

  Istanbul, Turkey (Sports Network) - Mark Webber continued Red Bull's winning streak in Formula One qualifying this season by taking the pole position for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.

  Webber held off McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by setting a new track qualifying record of one minute, 26.295 seconds at the 5.338-kilometer Istanbul Park circuit.

  It was Webber's third straight pole and the seventh consecutive for Red Bull.

  "It hasn't been the smoothest of weekends for us in terms of getting the running in," Webber said. "Friday [practice] was a little disruptive but not massively.

  If you ever have a problem with the engine, it probably was the right time to have it. This morning we were not having the easiest [third practice], but when we started to get ready for qualifying, things started to get better.

  I was little bit on the back foot going in to be honest, but I knew if I kept digging deep, I would get something going.

  In the end, it turned out okay." Former F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen previously held the track qualifying record at Istanbul, set in 2005.

  Webber has won both the Spanish Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix after starting on the pole and leading every lap in each one of those events this month.

  He currently is tied with his teammate Sebastian Vettel for the world championship lead with 78 points apiece.

  Hamilton finished less than 0.2 seconds behind Webber to take the outside pole and prevent Red Bull from another front row sweep this season.

  "Yesterday, I wasn't 100 percent happy with the balance of the car that I was able to find, but we were able to fine tune it today, understanding the tires and everything," Hamilton said. "We really were able to put in a great lap, and I was very happy with that lap." Vettel qualified third for Sunday's 58-lap race, while Hamilton's teammate, Jenson Button, the defending F1 champion and last year's winner of this race, took the fourth spot.

  "Q1 and Q2 was very smooth, and I was happy with the car, and there were no problems," Vettel said. "During the last qualifying [Q3], the first lap was brilliant up until turn 12, and on the braking, I slightly locked the front, which was no issue, but then it was very weird, because the inside just kept on locking, and it never came back." Michael Schumacher qualified fifth, one spot ahead of his Mercedes GP teammate and German compatriot Nico Rosberg.

  Felipe Massa from Ferrari, Renault's Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi from BMW Sauber completed the top-10. Massa started on the pole and won the Turkish GP three straight times from 2006-08.

  Fernando Alonso, who currently is three points behind leaders Webber and Vettel, will start 12th in his Ferrari.

  "I pushed very hard in that last lap, but I was slower than my fastest lap," Alonso said.

  05/29 09:47:37 ET