Spanish GP: Martin Whitmarsh left without a wing and a prayer

Under mounting pressure, Martin Whitmarsh claimed last night (Saturday) that he would not step down as McLaren team principal after another abject qualifying display for today's Spanish Grand Prix raised renewed questions over his future.

The 55 year-old, who watched in visible frustration as drivers Sergio Perez and Jenson Button toiled to eighth and 14th place on the grid respectively, said of his position: "I don't believe it has been considered at board level. I believe that we are going to power through this, so I am considering nothing other than getting this team back to where it belongs."

It is an unenviable predicament for Whitmarsh, who had hoped that this afternoon's race at the Circuit de Catalunya would transform McLaren's season, and has presided instead over a litany of misfortune. The team's travails began early yesterday, when a front wing that had required a 12-hour journey in a van from their Woking headquarters could not be safety-tested in time, and continued with a dismal performance in qualifying as Button failed even to make the third session due to an error in his tyre pressures.

While Mercedes celebrated their third successive pole position with a front-row lockout, Nico Rosberg edging out team-mate Lewis Hamilton by two tenths of a second, McLaren found themselves cut adrift once more.

The strain upon Whitmarsh, who has failed to win a title in his first four campaigns in charge and is experiencing a dire start to his fifth, is intense, but he maintained last night that he was still the man to turn around a grisly season.

"I enjoy coming to motor racing to win, so I don't like it when the car's not good enough, that's for sure," he argued. "I've been around personally when McLaren have won 100 races, and I'm sure we're going to win some more. We're going to work hard to do that."

McLaren are desperately thrashing around for any remedy for their woes, as illustrated by the episode of the new wing, which couldn't be used because it arrived after the deadline set by the FIA inspectors.

At the business end of the grid, meanwhile, the Silver Arrows' one-lap supremacy continued. It completed a treble of poles for Mercedes, the first time they had accomplished such a feat since 1955. While their race pace has thus far been more suspect, Rosberg still delivered a significant statement of intent in edging out Hamilton by two tenths with a final qualifying lap of one minute 20.714 seconds.

"It's to be enjoyed with caution," said Rosberg, only too mindful that Mercedes' tyre-management deficiencies caused him to finish the race ninth after his previous pole in Bahrain.

"It all went perfectly in qualifying but the race will be very different, because these tyres are a real challenge."

Recent history holds an auspicious portent for Mercedes, though, given that 17 of the last 22 pole-sitters here in Barcelona have gone on to take the chequered flag.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader, will start third, ahead of nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen in fourth, while local favourite Fernando Alonso managed only fifth.

Hamilton was plainly disappointed at being out-qualified by Rosberg, having beaten all challengers by more than six tenths with an astonishing lap in the second phase of qualifying. But it has been a remarkable start to the season for the 28-year-old, who lies third in the early running for the title despite having tried to dampen public expectations during the winter.

The Briton, credited by principal Ross Brawn for galvanising the Mercedes camp since his arrival from McLaren, reflected: "When you come to a new team, everyone's unsure of who you are and what they can and cannot say around you. People build a perception of who you are. But I hope I am helping to motivate and inspire everyone here."