( dpa )- McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Saturday took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The Briton posted a time of one minute 26.714 seconds for the 5.303 kilometres lap on the Albert Park course.
Starting alongside Hamilton will be Robert Kubica, who surprised in his BMW-Sauber with an excellent second place in the qualifying and would have even managed a pole had he not made a small mistake at the end of his fast lap.
Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and Ferrari driver Felipe Massa will be starting from the second row after posting the third and fourth fastest time respectively.
Germany's Nick Heidfeld established a new qualifying record. The BMW-Sauber driver, who finished fifth on the day, managed to qualify for the third qualifying round for the 23rd consecutive time, beating two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who had 22 consecutive top ten qualifying finishes ahead of Saturday's session.
World champion Kimi Raikkonen, who last year won the Grand Prix in his maiden race for Ferrari, will start the race from 16th place on the grid after being eliminated in the first round of qualifying after his car stopped on the track during the first round of qualifying.
The Finn had posted a time that would have allowed him to drive in the second round of qualifying, but the rules stipulate that a car that fails to finish a lap - irrespective of whether they had earlier posted a time - is not allowed into the next round of qualifying.
Local hero Mark Webber in a Red Bull spun out in a corner in the first minute of the second round and was also eliminated on the basis of the same rule.