FERRARI driver Felipe Massa claimed pole position for tomorrow's Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of McLaren's rising star Lewis Hamilton.

Massa was also fastest in qualifying in Malaysia last week and will again start at the front after clocking a time of one minute 32.652 seconds.

But Hamilton, who has finished on the podium in his two F1 races, put himself in the ideal position to capture his first Grand Prix win, securing a place at the front of the grid.

Top qualifier of Oxfordshire's team drivers was Giancarlo Fisichella in seventh place in the Enstone-built ING Renault. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was 12th.

Nico Rosberg qualified tenth in the Grove-based AT&T Williams-Toyota, ahead of his team-mate Alexander Wurz in 11th.

Anthony Davidson was 13th in the Leafield-built, Honda-powered Super Aguri and his team-mate Takuma Sato was 17th. The Brackley-based Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button start the race 15th and 16th on the grid.

Qualifying positions Bahrain Grand Prix

1 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:32.652

2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:32.935

3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:33.131

4 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:33.192

5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:33.404

6 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:33.710

7 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:34.056

8 Mark Webber RedBull-Renault 1:34.106

9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:34.154

10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:34.399

11 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:32.915

12 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:32.935

13 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:33.082

14 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:33.294

15 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:33.624

16 Jenson Button Honda 1:33.731

17 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:33.984

18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.024

19 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.333

20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.280

21 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:35.341

22 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.533