Massa snatches Malaysian GP pole

Alonso had dominated the hour until that point - setting the fastest times in Q1 and Q2, and also going quickest with his first Q3 run.

But Massa improved to 1:35.043 on his last lap, which was sufficient to beat Alonso by three -tenths of a second.

Melbourne winner Kimi Raikkonen could only manage third place this time, alongside Lewis Hamilton, who was 0.7 seconds slower than Alonso.

With rain a possibility when Q3 began, the leading teams split their strategies and sent Alonso and Massa out on soft tyres immediately despite their heavy fuel loads, while Hamilton and Raikkonen followed a more conventional plan and remained on the harder compound until their cars were lighter.

In the event, the rain held off and the tactics made little difference.

Behind the top four, the BMW Saubers continued their competitive form, with Nick Heidfeld qualifying fifth and Robert Kubica in seventh.

They were split by Nico Rosberg, whose sixth place confirmed the promise that Williams had shown in the practice sessions.

Both Toyotas made it into the top ten, Jarno Trulli taking eighth and Ralf Schumacher ninth, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber.

The threatening clouds had also caused panic in Q2, with all 16 participants taking to the track immediately and only those at risk of elimination returning for a second run at the end of the 15 minutes.

Renault - winners of the last two Malaysian GPs - will start from row six this year. Giancarlo Fisichella was only 12th fastest after the initial scramble in Q2 and failed to improve on his second run, while Heikki Kovalainen looked set to make the cut with 10th place until Webber jumped up the order on his final lap and edged the Finn down to 11th.

Super Aguri could not quite repeat their Melbourne form. Takuma Sato again beat both works Hondas by taking 14th, a place ahead of Jenson Button, but Anthony Davidson did not make it past Q1 and will start 18th.

He is still a place ahead of Rubens Barrichello, who missed the cut for the second successive race.

Barrichello had switched to Honda's spare chassis after gearbox problems earlier in the day. He abandoned his first attempt at a flying lap in the unfamiliar car, and only managed 19th place when he did set a time.

He will be joined on row ten by Williams' Alex Wurz, who was also stymied by a gearbox issue.

Despite hopes that a revised aerodynamic package would boost their form, Spyker bring up the rear of the grid again. Christijan Albers outqualified Adrian Sutil this time, but both drivers were two seconds slower than they needed to be to make the cut.