Narain Karthikeyan finished 15th for Jordan as the highest-ranked of the four men making their Grands Prix debuts in Australia.
Michael Schumacher retired at Suzuka with an engine failure.
The Brazilian took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix with championship-leading team mate Michael Schumacher alongside on an all-Ferrari front row.
The Formula One world champion accused Renault of twice abandoning him at crucial times this season.
Schumacher was the quickest, 0.172 seconds ahead of champion Alonso, on a damp track after morning drizzle at an overcast circuit.
Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso has been elected as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association in place of retiring Ferrari rival Michael Schumacher.
Michael Schumacher's manager has accused Fernando Alonso of 'pitiful behaviour' after the Formula One world champion described the German ace as the least sporting driver of all time.
Schumacher's love for speed even led him to test Ducati's MotoGP bike last year and he is tempted to try again.
German publication Bild is claiming that Michael Schumacher will announce on Sunday that he is to retire at the end of the current season.
Renault's world champion Alonso finished second ahead of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.
Michael Schumacher blamed himself for a red flag error that wrecked his Hungarian Grand Prix hopes.
Briton Jenson Button was second fastest for Honda, ahead of Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello.
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva was named World Sportswoman of the Year.
Spain's first race winner and first F1 world champion shrugged off suggestion that he is the face of a new era.\n
Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 season but returned to the race track this month in a test that Ferrari described at the time as "half for pleasure, half for technical reasons."
The Ferrari driver ended world champion Fernando Alonso's run of five successive poles.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen made a flying start to the Formula One season on Friday with the fastest times in free practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
Schumacher will be absent from Formula One's season-opening race for the first time since 1991 on Sunday.
Renault's Formula One world champion scored his fourth consecutive victory of the season.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso hopes to get his McLaren career off to a winning start on Sunday in an Australian Grand Prix that is far more than just a season-opener.
Only two men in very different eras, Michael Schumacher and the late Juan Manuel Fangio have won three titles or more in a row.
The drivers want to put safety measures at test sessions on a par with grands prix.
The Ferrari driver said he had nothing to lose and everything to gain after winning the Chinese Grand Prix and setting up a three-way showdown for Formula One title.
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher qualified third with his Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa alongside.
And have also offered him an immediate opt-out clause if he wins another Formula One title.
Michael Schumacher broke the record of late great Ayrton Senna by storming to his 66th pole position of his career
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to take 100 pole positions after lapping fastest for Mercedes in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
