The Australian racer, who seems to have found something extra in either himself or the car, crossed the line with a 1:26.295, thereby sealing his third successive qualifying P1 - and Red Bull's seventh out of seven races. However, it was a close call as Hamilton, putting his f-duct to use around the Istanbul circuit, mounted a challenge, finishing just 0.138s adrift to claim McLaren's first front row grid slot of the Championship.
He also split the Red Bulls as Sebastian Vettel could only manage third place, which should spark an exciting battle in Sunday's grand prix.
Jenson Button was fourth ahead of the Mercedes GP drivers with Michael Schumacher pipping his team-mate Nico Rosberg by less than a tenth of a second.
Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa completed the top eight while Fernando Alonso was the only big name not to make it through to Q3 as the Spaniard made a mistake at Turn 12 and then just wasn't quick enough on his following lap.
Times:
01. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.295
02. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.433
03. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:26.760
04. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.781
05. Schumacher Mercedes 1:26.857
06. Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.952
07. Kubica Renault 1:27.039
08. Massa Ferrari 1:27.082
09. Petrov Renault 1:27.430
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.122
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:27.525
12. Alonso Ferrari 1:27.612
13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.879
14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.273
15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.392
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.540
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:28.841
18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:28.958
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.237
20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.519
21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.744
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:31.266
23. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:31.989
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:32.060
Source: Planet-F1
