Ferrari's Felipe Massa will once again lead from the front after the Brazilian took pole position in qualifying for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Massa was fastest in qualifying in Malaysia last week and will again start at the front of the grid after clocking a time of one minute 32.652 seconds on the Sakhir circuit.
But rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton put himself in the ideal position to capture his first-ever Grand Prix win as he secured a place at the front of the grid for the first time this season.
The McLaren driver, who will make history if he secures a third successive podium finish in Sunday's race, clocked a time of one minute 32.935 seconds to take second place.
Massa's teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who dominated Friday's practice session, will start in third place while Fernando Alonso ensured McLaren and Ferrari continue to dominate the top-four as he finished fourth.
Hamilton was delighted to be on the front row, saying: 'To go into my third race in Formula One and to get a front row, it's an amazing feeling.
'Qualifying is extremely intense and you need to pull out absolutely everything on that last lap.'
BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld took his impressive practice form into qualifying as the German finished fifth while team-mate Robert Kubica will start in sixth.
Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella took seventh place while Mark Webber enjoyed a superb qualifying session by finishing in eighth place.
Toyota driver Jarno Trulli and Williams' Nico Rosburg rounded off the top 10.
Renault have only one driver competing in the top 10 after Heikki Kovalainen was eliminated in Q2 as he finished 12th, while Toyota's Ralf Schumacher failed to make it through to Q3 for the first time this season and will start 14th on the grid.
Honda's woes continued as both Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button failed to make it through to Q3.
The duo, who have struggled with their cars' lack of pace throughout this season, never looked like making it into the top 10 and will start 15th and 16th respectively on the grid tomorrow.
David Coulthard's hopes of an improved performance in Bahrain were dealt a blow when he was surprisingly eliminated in Q1.
The Scot, who endured a mixed performance during practice, could only manage a time of one minute 35.341 seconds before gearbox problems brought an end to his qualifying session and he will start in 21st place tomorrow.
Final Qualifying Positions:
1 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 01min 32.652secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 01:32.935
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 01:33.131
4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 01:33.192
5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 01:33.404
6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 01:33.710
7 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 01:34.056
8 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 01:34.106
9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 01:34.154
10 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 01:34.399
11 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams 01:32.915
12 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 01:32.935
13 Anthony Davidson (Gbr) Super Aguri 01:33.082
14 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 01:33.294
15 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 01:33.624
16 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 01:33.731
17 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 01:33.984
18 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:34.024
19 Scott Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:34.333
20 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker 01:35.280
21 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 01:35.341
22 Christijan Albers (Ned) Spyker 01:35.533
