Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen denied home hero Fernando Alonso a stunning Spanish Grand Prix pole position.

The 115,000-strong crowd gave Alonso a standing ovation after Renault's double world champion pulled out all the stops at the Circuit de Catalunya only to be pipped by the Finn in the dying seconds by 0.091.

The pole was championship leader Raikkonen's first of the season and the 15th of his Formula One career.

It was also the first time the sport has had two champions together on the front row since Ferrari's Michael Schumacher retired in 2006.

Alonso's position was as unexpected as it was welcome for a Spanish crowd primed in advance by the 26-year-old not to expect anything special on Sunday after a difficult start to the season.

Renault had not been on the front row of the grid since Alonso took pole at the Chinese Grand Prix in October 2006 and there were immediate suspicions that the Spaniard was lighter on fuel than his rivals.

However the French team have introduced a significant aerodynamic upgrade for Barcelona, including a prominent new engine cover that Alonso likened to the sail of an America's Cup yacht.

Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Friday and won the previous race in Bahrain, qualified third with BMW Sauber's Polish driver Robert Kubica alongside in fourth place.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, last year's overall runner-up in his rookie season, shared the third row with Finnish team-mate Heikki Kovalainen as the Mercedes-powered team continued to look ill at ease.

Raikkonen will be expected to secure Ferrari's third win in a row in Sunday's race, given that the driver on pole position in Barcelona has won for the past seven years.

The Finn was also the fourth different driver in four races to take pole position.

Reuters