McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton [Images] took pole position on Saturday for a Chinese Grand Prix that could make him Formula One's first rookie champion.

The 22-year-old will line up alongside Ferrari's [Images] Kimi Raikkonen [Images] on the front row for Sunday's race.

Double world champion and McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso [Images], 12 points behind Hamilton with just two races remaining, qualified fourth with Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa [Images] ahead of him in third.

"Thanks a lot guys, mega job. The car was fantastic," Hamilton said on the team radio after setting his best lap of the weekend in the dying seconds of the session.

"Job done, job done, P1," came the reply.

Starting grid for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren

2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari

3. Felipe Massa (Brazil [Images]) Ferrari

4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren

5. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull - Renault

6. Ralf Schumacher (Germany [Images]) Toyota

7. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault

8. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW [Images] Sauber 

9. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber

10. Jenson Button [Images] (Britain) Honda

11. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy [Images]) Toro Rosso - Ferrari

12. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso - Ferrari

13. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota

14. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault

15. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri - Honda

16. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota

17. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda

18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault

19. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Williams - Toyota

20. Takuma Sato (Japan [Images]) Super Aguri - Honda

21. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker - Ferrari

22. Sakon Yamamoto (Japan) Spyker - Ferrari