Shanghai: Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, with a chance to clinch the drivers' championship in his rookie season, took pole position on Saturday for the Chinese Grand Prix, with title rival and teammate Fernando Alonso fourth.
Kimi Raikkonen, who led all three practice sessions before qualifying was second with his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa third.
Hamilton had a time of 1 minute, 35.908 seconds on the 5.5-kilometer (3.4-mile) Shanghai International circuit, and barely six tenths of a second separated the top four.
Raikkonen did a 1:36.044, with Massa at 1:36.221.
Two-time defending champion Alonso was fourth at 1:36.576 ahead of Sunday's 56-lap race.
Hamilton heads into this weekend's race with 107 points, a 12-point lead over Alonso. Hamilton will become the first rookie to clinch the title if he finishes ahead of Alonso on Sunday, or maintains at least an 11-point margin with only the Brazilian Grand Prix to go.
However, thunderstorms are predicted over the weekend, with a typhoon forecast to hit Taiwan late on Saturday.
If it stays on its current path, the eye of the storm was expected to strike land about 300 kilometers (200 miles) south of Shanghai late on Sunday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.
The approaching weather influenced qualifying, as some cars carried set-ups for rain while others had dry settings, with differences in springs and brake cooling.
David Coulthard of Red Bull took fifth to be the best of the rest, ahead of Toyota's Ralf Schumacher, Red Bull's Mark Webber and the BMW pair Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.
Ferrari and McLaren have won all 15 races so far with Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen each notching four victories.
Ferrari have won two of the previous three races here and the red cars could be the downfall of Alonso.
If Raikkonen and Massa were to finish first and second for Ferrari - and if Alonso and Hamilton follow third and fourth - there would be still be an unassailable 11-point gap Hamilton and Alonso after the race.
Raikkonen, with a slight chance to win the title, is third in the standings with 90 points while Massa has 80.
Late on Friday, Hamilton was cleared by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) after a hearing and review of an incident in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Hamilton was accused of accelerating and decelerating behind the safety car during a caution period on the 46th lap, spraying water from a wet track and causing Webber and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel to collide.
Vettel was originally given a 10-place starting grid penalty for this race for running into the back of Webber's car, but that was reduced because the stewards felt that conditions were "exceptionally bad".
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