Lewis Hamilton reserved a barnstorming final lap in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix to take his fourth pole of the season Saturday. With his 35th career pole, Hamilton relegated Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg to second on the grid as he bids for his fourth straight win of the season. Victory in Sunday's race would see Hamilton leapfrog Rosberg in the world title standings and would be his first at the Circuit of Catalunya. But it proved another sorry afternoon for four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel, who could not take part in the final part of qualifying after "losing drive" in his Red Bull, and was later penalized five grid places for a gearbox change. It left him 15th on the grid, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo of Australia again impressed by claiming third spot, although over a second slower on his lap than Hamilton. Finn Valtteri Bottas took a fine fourth for the revived Williams team, with Romain Grosjean giving Lotus a boost in fifth. Ferrari's home hero Fernando Alonso had hoped to give his vast following in Barcelona something to cheer, but had to settle for seventh on the grid, being out qualified by his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Rosberg had raised hopes he could take pole ahead of Hamilton by being fastest in third practice and then in the opening two sessions of final qualifying. But Hamilton showed his superiority despite doubts he would have to give second best, clocking a time of one minute 25.232 seconds. "Nico (Rosberg) has been driving really well through P3 and qualifying, so I didn't know if I could get it. At the end, I had to eek out everything and more from the car," he said. "To have the kind of performance we have, I have never really known that before. I'm overwhelmed, so happy." Jenson Button for McLaren, Felipe Massa in the second Williams and Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber, who narrowly missed out on final qualifying, round out the top 10.

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Lewis Hamilton takes pole for Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Teammate Nico Rosberg is second on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo in third for Red Bull. NEW: Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel five-place grid penalty.

By. Emily Allen. UPDATED:. 10:40 EST, 20 October 2011. You'd have thought there's not a lot that can go wrong when putting up a huge road sign. But council workers in Oldham showed just how tricky it can be when they installed a 'Welcome' sign ... upside down. After stepping back to admire their handiwork on Lees Street in Chadderton and not realising anything was a amiss they then packed up and headed off to their next job. What happened next is a bit of a mystery as local resident Andrew Robinson, who took a picture of the error, says it stayed that way overnight while council officials insist it was turned the right way up within an hour of being wrongly fitted. Whoops! Staff working for Oldham council failed to notice their wonky sign blunder on Lees Street in Chadderton. Mr Robinson said: 'I couldn't believe it when I saw two workmen packing up after replacing the sign with a new one upside down. 'I checked again in the morning and took some photographs because I thought I'd either dreamt it or can't have seen it properly. 'I really can't believe the level of. incompetence shown by Oldham council and find the tag line 'working for a. co-operative borough' ironic. 'Surely they can't have left without looking at it? How hard is it to put up a sign?' A council spokesman said: 'A genuine. error was made by staff. We were notified by the public that same day. and it was rectified within an hour.' The new sign was designed to show the. Chadderton crest. Michael Lawson, of Chadderton Historical Society,. which campaigned to have the crest included, said: 'I understand. councillor Jim McMahon is making a big impression on the borough and. turning things upside down but we didn't think he was going this far. Mistake: Workmen spent two hours carefully creating a road marking only to mis-spell it as 'Loading OLNY' in Lynmouth, Devon. 'On a serious note we think that he is doing a great job and he has our full support. It's marvellous to see the crest up. 'It makes us proud of the township and the metropolitan borough and shows we are all moving in the same direction.' Meanwhile, workmen spent two hours carefully creating a road marking only to mis-spell it as 'Loading OLNY'. The glaring error, written in clear, white paint, was left in the centre of the village of Lynmouth, Devon. Parking rebels in the village are refusing to obey the message claiming it is not enforceable because of the mistake. Jo Backhouse, from Lynmouth Stores, said: 'Not a lot of people noticed the mistake at first as it is not that obvious until you cross the road. 'But we have all had a laugh about it in the shop.'

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'I really can't believe the level of. incompetence shown by Oldham council and find the tag line "Working for a. co-operative borough" ironic' Council spokesman: 'A genuine. error was made by staff. We were notified by the public that same day. and it was rectified within an hour' Workmen also mis-spell road sign as Loading OLNY' in Devon.