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The Spaniard lapped the 2.722-mile, 16-turn course in one minute,
21.569 seconds for his first pole since the 2007 Italian Grand Prix when
he drove for McLaren at the time.
"It was quite a stressful qualifying to be honest," Alonso
said. "The times were not working in Q3, and we were in parc ferme
(closed park), chatting among ourselves to ask what times you did and try
to find what position you were in."
Qualifying was also marred by Felipe Massa's high speed crash just
before the conclusion of the second segment. Massa, from Ferrari, ran off
the course in turn four and slammed head on into the tire barrier after
being struck on the head by a piece of flying debris, believed to be from
the rear of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car. The Brazilian was awake and
alert when he was lifted from his car. He was transported by helicopter to
a nearby hospital for further evaluation.
International Automobile Federation (FIA) and Ferrari team officials
said Massa was in stable condition. His incident delayed the start of Q3
by 20 minutes.
Alonso finished ahead of Red Bull Racing teammates Sebastian Vettel,
who qualified second, and Mark Webber, taking the third position.
"It was a pretty difficult start to the weekend, since I was
struggling with the balance of the car during (Friday's) practice,"
Vettel said. "I am very confident about the race, and we should be
good for tomorrow."
Webber captured his long-awaited maiden F1 win two weeks ago in
Germany.
"Sebastian and I are in a position tomorrow to capitalize on some
good points hopefully."
Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton, from McLaren, will start
fourth, followed by Williams' Nico Rosberg and Hamilton's teammate, Heikki
Kovalainen, the defending race winner. Kimi Raikkonen, from Ferrari, took
seventh.
Brawn endured its worst qualifying effort this year with Jenson Button,
the current world championship points leader, starting eighth, while
Barrichello failed to make it out of Q2, as he will roll off 13th.
Jamie Alguersuari, who will become the youngest driver ever to compete
in an F1 grand prix at age 19, will start last in the 20-car field.
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