Mark Webber takes pole in rain-hit Malaysia

Mark Webber took pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday after a tropical downpour caused chaos in qualifying and left some big names near the back of the grid.

The Australian grabbed his second career pole, and Red Bull's third in a row, with Mercedes'' German Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, on pole in Bahrain and Australia, qualified third with Force India's Adrian Sutil fourth.           

The big talking point was the severe misjudgement of the conditions in the first part of the session by both Ferrari and McLaren.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton will start in 20th place, sandwiched by the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso (19th) and Felipe Massa (21st), who all left it too late to record flying laps as the rain became heavier over the Sepang Circuit.

With a storm lashing the circuit, world champion Jenson Button did manage to squeeze into the top 17 from the first session but was unable to take any further part in qualifying after stranding his McLaren in a gravel trap.

The third session was also halted for 18 minutes due to the conditions.