German Sebastian Vettel grabbed the fourth pole position of his career on Saturday when he survived a powerful challenge from his Red Bull teammate Australian Mark Webber in qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

Red hot! Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after taking pole at Silverstone on Saturday. pic/ap

The 21-year-old, who shot to prominence by taking pole and winning last year's Italian Grand Prix with the unsung Toro Rosso team, clocked a best time of one minute and 19.509 seconds in the top-ten shootout. "It was the lap of the weekend," said Vettel.

"It was just perfect. You always think there is a little bit here or there, but it went very well. I was surprised how quick I was, it was enough to get pole position."

Starting grid: 1 Vettel,u00a0 2 Barrichello, 3 Webber,u00a0 4 Trulli, 5 Nakajima, 6 Button, 7 Rosberg, 8 Glock, 9 Raikkonen, 10 Alonso.

Force India 16th, 18th
Force India will begin from the back of the grid at Silverstone as drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil qualified 16th and 18th respectively.