The Renault ace came up against tough opposition in the second qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix but prevailed in supreme style.

The Spaniard’s final aggregate time of 3:07.672 was enough to give him pole by a quarter of a second, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli finishing a commendable second.

The pair were separated by less than a tenth at the start of their respective laps and both put in memorable performances to run away from the field.

Third placed Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) was over half a second down on the front-row duo despite finishing Saturday just a tenth behind.

Fourth placed Mark Webber (Williams) went from six tenths down to over one second.

Other memorable performances included those of Red Bull pairing Christian Klien and David Coulthard.

Both men moved up three positions on their Saturday slots and will now start the afternoon race in seventh and eighth respectively.

But while the aforementioned may have been smiling, times were not so cheerful at McLaren and Ferrari.

The once championship giants both suffered losses during the second qualifying runs.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen dropped two positions to sixth while his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya dropped four to 11th.

Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher was down one to 13th but his team-mate Rubens Barrichello was up two to 12th.
However, the Brazilian’s gain did little to cheer up the Scuderia who will have two cars start outside the top ten for the second event in succession.