Barwa Campos 1-3, split by di Grassi

Romain Grosjean has taken the first points of the 2009 season by claiming pole for today's race one in Barcelona, just ahead of Lucas di Grassi and Vitaly Petrov.

The Frenchman stopped the clock at 1:27.510 in the fifth minute of the session, but the Brazilian ran him very close: di Grassi's best time was just 0.021 behind, with Petrov a further five tenths further back.

With  temperatures  in  the  pitlane  soaring  as  the  session  got  underway,  the  majority  of  the  field were immediately on track to take advantage: Giacomo Ricci and Pastor Maldonado set the early pace before Grosjean laid down the challenge, and the fight was on. Di Grassi, Andreas Zuber and Jerome d'Ambrosio were the principle challengers for the top spot, and Grosjean had to re-emerge late in the session to cover himself: the Frenchman was held up by traffic on his fastest lap, but despite last minute challenges from his teammate and di Grassi,

Grosjean had just done enough to claim the first pole of the year. Just  behind  the  top  three  were  Nico  Hülkenberg,  Zuber,  Luca  Filippi,  d'Ambrosio  and  Diego Nunes, although Filippi will lose 3 spots on the grid as a result of his penalty from this morning's practice. 

With  15  drivers  within  a  second  of  pole,  and  24  drivers  within  2  seconds,  expect fireworks from the start of today's race.

Barcelona – Qualifying session Driver Team Time Laps

1. Romain Grosjean Barwa Campos Team 1:27.510 11

2. Lucas di Grassi Fat Burner Racing Eng. 1:27.531 12

3. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Campos Team 1:28.027 12

4. Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:28.088 11

5. Andreas Zuber FMSI 1:28.090 11

6. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:28.195 8

7. Jérôme d’Ambrosio DAMS 1:28.209 12

8. Diego Nunes iSport International 1:28.253 11

9. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:28.266 15

10. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:28.283 11

11. Sergio Perez Telmex Arden International 1:28.374 12

12. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:28.381 13

13. Edoardo Mortara Telmex Arden International 1:28.451 15

14. Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:28.488 14

15. Alvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:28.608 12

16. Alberto Valerio Piquet GP 1:28.688 14

17. Dani Clos Fat Burner Racing Eng. 1:28.691 14

18. Giedo van der Garde iSport International 1:28.796 11

19. Davide Rigon Trident Racing 1:28.872 13

20 Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:29.164 15 2

1. Luiz Razia FMSI 1:29.185 14

22. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:29.350 14

23. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:29.524 15

24. Nelson Panciatici Durango 1:29.560 14

25 Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing 1:31.115 15

26. Michael Herck DPR 1:31.875 7