Sakhir (Bahrain): Although Ferrari and McLaren again filled the top two rows of the starting grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix, it was their less experienced drivers who were fastest on Saturday.
Felipe Massa of Ferrari was timed at 1 minute, 32.652 seconds to take the pole position for the fourth time in the last five Formula One races.
McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton was second in 1:32.935 in qualifying on the 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile) Bahrain International Circuit ahead of Sunday's 57-lap race.
In the second row will be the bigger names.
Kimi Raikkonen, who replaced seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, was third in 1:33.131, and double world champion Fernando Alonso was fourth in 1:33.192 for McLaren.
It was Massa's second straight and fifth career pole. He ended the 2006 season with two pole positions, but only won the Brazilian GP.
"Today we showed a very quick car," Massa said. "Tomorrow hopefully we can put things together."
Raikkonen and Alonso have split the first two races of the season. After two races, Alonso leads the standings with 18 points, two ahead of Raikkonen and four in front of Hamilton.
"Second row was the best we could do today, but we should be in a good position to fight for a podium finish," Alonso said. "This track provides plenty of opportunities for overtaking, which means that you can really fight for positions and give the spectators a nice race."
Alonso won the Bahrain GP last year in a stretch during which he won six of the first nine races for Renault. He switched to McLaren at the end of the season, while Raikkonen moved from McLaren to Ferrari.
"We are fighting with the Ferraris and that's more or less what we expected," Alonso said. "I'm optimistic for a competitive race tomorrow."
The 22-year-old Hamilton, F1's first black driver, can make F1 history this weekend.
No driver has started his F1 career with three consecutive finishes in the top three - Hamilton finished third in Australia and second in Malaysia.
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"It's only my third race in Formula One and to get a front-row (spot) is an amazing thing," Hamilton said.
Hamilton had to deal with changing wind conditions that blew up sand on his final qualifying lap.
"You need to pull out everything in that last lap," Hamilton said. "It is quite tough to put the car on the limit and anticipate what is going to happen."
Raikkonen won the Australian GP after starting at the top of the grid. Massa had the pole at the Malaysian GP, but finished fifth in a race won by Alonso.
Massa wants to avoid the mistakes that cost him in Malaysia.
"Hopefully it will be different," Massa said. "For sure, last Sunday was not a very easy day for us. I was disappointed, starting in front and knowing the car was good.
"Our car was stronger than what we showed in the race - losing the position at the start and some mistakes in the middle of the race. Hopefully this time we can show a better result."
Raikkonen, who led both practices Friday, thinks the start will be crucial.
"I think a lot of things depends on where we come out of the first corner," he said.
Ferrari did well in February testing in Bahrain and has new engines after two races. But Hamilton thinks McLaren has closed the gap.
"Coming here we seem to be stronger than we were in the tests and we are closer to Ferrari. Perhaps we are more comfortable with the circuit," he said. "For sure we will have a strong race and it will be interesting to see what happens."
Raikkonen, who finished third at Malaysia behind the two McLarens, said he had to preserve his engine in the last race and wasn't able to challenge Alonso.
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