Formula One:Felipe Massa produced a superb late lap to snatch pole position for Sunday's historic Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver clocked a time of one minute, 44:519 seconds in his final lap under the floodlights on the Marina Bay street circuit to finish sixth-tenths of a second faster than McLaren's Hamilton.
Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, despite enduring a frustrating time during practice, finished strongly to take third.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica will start in fourth place on the grid while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen is in fifth.
"The car was perfect,'' said Massa. "I managed to do a perfect lap and that always helps when you have a good car."
The result will make for an interesting race with Hamilton just a single point ahead of Massa in the championship standings and overtaking expected to be difficult.
Nick Heidfeld, of BMW Sauber, took sixth place while Italian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel will start seventh in his Toro Rosso.
Toyota's Timo Glock and Williams duo Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima complete the top 10.
There was, however, bitter disappointment for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso after the Renault driver's qualifying session was brought to a disappointing end.
After promising displays during practice, during which the Spaniard twice clocked fastest times, Alonso's car inexplicably lost power in Q2 to bring an end to his session.
Despite fears the unpredictable tropical climate of Singapore would throw up some rain and thunderstorms over the weekend, conditions were dry as the session got under way while concerns over lighting also proved unfounded with the track well lit throughout.
The circuit has, however, proved challenging for the drivers in practice with many commentating on its bumpy surface - highlighted by Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella's car going airborne after hitting a high kerb in practice earlier in the day.
His car never really recovered from that setback and Fisichella unsurprisingly failed to make a timed lap in Q3.
Honda's Jenson Button, despite a promising performance in the final practice session, will start on 12th while David Coulthard is two places further back in his Red Bull.
The bumps on the circuit were clear early into qualifying when sparks flew from beneath Mark Webber's Red Bull before Hamilton soon set the fastest time in his third lap.
However, the 23-year-old only just squeezed into the final stage after struggling in Q2 to finish eighth fastest but then climbed into P1 with a solid final lap that had looked like it would do enough to secure the Stevenage-born driver pole for Formula One's first night race.
However, Massa's last-ditch effort ensures he is in a strong position to claim the championship lead come Sunday.
"It was one of those things and I was very fortunate to get through,'' said Hamilton. "But I'm happy with the result.
"We are not worried. We are in a very strong position and I am quite happy with where I am."