Raikkonen on pole for Spanish Grand Prix

Ferrari's world champion and Formula One leader Kimi Raikkonen took his first pole position of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix today ahead of home hero Fernando Alonso.

The Spanish crowd gave Alonso a standing ovation after Renault's double world champion pulled out all the stops at his home circuit only to be pipped by the Finn. Ferrari's Felipe Massa, winner of the previous race in Bahrain, qualified third with BMW Sauber's Polish driver Robert Kubica fourth. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, last year's overall championship runner-up, shared the third row with Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

Raikkonen will be the clear favourite for tomorrow's race, given that the driver on pole position has won at the Circuit de Catalunya for the past seven years in a row. The Finn is the fourth different driver in four races to take pole position. - Reuters