Schumacher claimed his fourth pole of the season

Ferrari will occupy the front row of the grid for the French Grand Prix after Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa clinched the top two positions.

Schumacher took pole at Magny-Cours - the 68th of his career - after lapping 0.017 seconds quicker than Massa.

World champion Fernando Alonso was third for Renault with Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher just behind.

It was another disappointing day for Britain's Jenson Button, who will start the race from 18th in his Honda.

But David Coulthard has a strong chance of his third consecutive points finish after qualifying ninth for Red Bull.

Germany's Nico Rosberg was ninth but lost 10 places on the grid after an unscheduled engine change on Saturday.

The mechanics were able to get the car back together and did it superbly and we were able to get on the first row Michael Schumacher on his fire scare in practice

A spokeswoman for his Williams team said the Cosworth engine, which must last two race distances under Formula One regulations, had suffered damage from being over-revved at the US Grand Prix.

Cosworth monitored the engine and decided to change it after Saturday's third and final practice before qualifying for Sunday's race.

"The good news is that he is getting a new specification engine for the race," said the spokeswoman.

But Saturday's qualifying belonged to Ferrari with Schumacher grabbing his fourth pole of the season and raising his hopes further of closing the gap on championship leader Alonso.

Schumacher was especially pleased after overcoming a scare in the morning practice session.

A heat-shield on his car caught fire in the final free practice as he stopped in the pits after completing just five laps

I have nothing to lose, I have a 19-points advantage and am leading the championship - the risk is for the others Fernando Alonso

"It didn't really help," said the seven-time world champion.

"The mechanics were able to get the car back together and did it superbly and we were able to get on the first row."

Earlier this month, Schumacher shortened Alonso's lead to 19 points with a Ferrari one-two at the US Grand Prix.

With seven victories already under his belt at Magny-Cours, the German is now looking to become the first driver to win a single race eight times.

But Alonso remained upbeat about his French Grand Prix chances, despite losing out to Schumacher in qualifying again.

Alonso missed out on his second successive pole but believes the pressure is on his rival.

"For one lap, we were not quick enough and we knew that, so it's not a big surprise," he said.

"I have a competitive and very consistent car in the long runs and I think my chance will come to me.

"I think I have nothing to lose, I have a 19-points advantage and am leading the championship - the risk is for the others."

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Pedro de la Rosa also gave a promising performance with his first qualifying session for more than a year and his first under F1's new system.

The Spaniard, who has taken over from axed McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya, set the eighth fastest time, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen grabbed sixth.

But Button's season took another miserable turn when he missed the first-session cut to take a lowly 18th on the grid.

The Honda driver, who has not scored a point for more than two months, gave a lacklustre showing to equal his worst qualifying of the season - 19th at Silverstone.

His only consolation was being bumped up one spot as a result of Rosberg's engine change.

Sunday's starting grid for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours:

1. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari one minute 15.493 seconds
2. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:15.510
3. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:15.785
4. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:16.036
5. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:16.091
6. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:16.281
7. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:16.345
8. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren 1:16.632
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull - Ferrari 1:18.663
10. Mark Webber (Aus) Williams - Cosworth 1:16.129
11. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:16.294
12. Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull - Ferrari 1:16.433
13. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:17.027
14. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso - Cosworth 1:17.063
15. Christijan Albers (Ned) MF1 - Toyota 1:17.105
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso - Cosworth 1:17.164
17. Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 1:17.304
18. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:17.495
19. * Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams - Cosworth 1:18.272
20. Tiago Monteiro (Por) MF1 - Toyota 1:17.589
21. Franck Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri - Honda 1:18.637
22. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri - Honda 1:18.845