QUALIFYING POSITIONS 1 F Alonso 1:29.848 2 J Trulli 1:29.993 3 M Schumacher 1:30.237 4 N Heidfeld 1:30.390 5 G Fisichella 1:30.445 6 M Webber 1:30.592 7 K Raikkonen 1:30.594 8 C Klien 1:30.646 Schumacher happy with new car First qualifying as it happened

Alonso clocked one minute 29.848 seconds but Michael Schumacher was just 0.389 seconds behind, ominously powering the new Ferrari into third.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli separated the two in second while Britain's Jenson Button was 10th in his BAR and David Coulthard finished back in 12th for Red Bull.

The final positions will be decided in Sunday's last session at 0830 BST.

Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella lit up what was threatening to be a sluggish qualifying session because of searing track temperatures.

His aggressive run of 1:30.445 midway through the session was good enough to see him finish fifth overall by the end.

Schumacher then toppled Fisichella from the top of the standings with an impressive lap in the new Ferrari, which was making its first competitive outing.

Toyota repeated their impressive form from Malaysia as Trulli poured on the pace to leapfrog the world champion.

The Italian, who was sacked by Renault in acrimonious circumstances last season, admitted he was delighted with the way things were working out at his new team.

Trulli's a legend. He's consistently getting second place on the grid in a car which doesn't merit it! From VL Have your say on Five Live

"We could not have expected to be here when we stated our relationship with Toyota," said Trulli.

"Now we have to keep this momentum, we have to carry on working and it should be an interesting race."

But it was to be Renault's day as overall championship leader Alonso stole the advantage with a blistering final lap.

"I feel great," said the Spaniard. "It has been a good weekend again.

"The car is working perfectly and the team is doing all they can at the moment to ensure this continues."

Nick Heidfeld was a fine fourth for Williams with team-mate Mark Webber sixth. The Australian was unable to replicate his earlier form in final practice where he set the fastest-ever time at the circuit of 1:29.527.

It was also a satisifying day for Pedro de la Rosa who, replacing the injured Juan Pablo Montoya, was the first out and produced a strong run in his McLaren.

De la Rosa dealt well with the dusty conditions and was just over 0.1secs slower than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who went out when the conditions were quicker.

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis said: "Pedro's performance was exceptionally good taking into consideration the very difficult track conditions that often prevail at the early part of qualifying."

But BAR endured another frustrating session as they continued to be dogged by the engine problems that have blighted their season.

Two weeks after the team's double third-lap retirement in Malaysia, Button could not get to grips with the circuit, though he did finish one place ahead of team-mate Takuma Sato.

Rubens Barrichello was also out of luck in the second revamped Ferrari. The Brazilian had missed all of Saturday morning practice because of a broken gearbox and made a mistake early on his qualifying lap, ending up 15th.

And things were not much better for former world champion Jacques Villeneuve as he made a mistake at the first corner. The Canadian finished 16th and a massive 1.4secs slower than Sauber team-mate Felipe Massa.

Second qualifying starts at 0830 BST on Sunday 3 April, with the race at 1230.