Hamilton pipped to pole by Alonso in Monaco

The reigning world champion pipped the current leader by less than two tenths of a second around the tight, twisty street circuit of Monte Carlo.

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In clocking a time of one minute 15.726 seconds, Alonso clinched the 16th pole of his career and will now look for the win to close the two-point gap to Hamilton at the top of the standings.

It is the first time this season McLaren have locked out the front row as Ferrari have dominated all four of the previous races, and it is their first pole since the Italian Grand Prix of last year.

This was not Ferrari's day as Felipe Massa, who had claimed pole in the last three races, will start third, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen is down in 15th.

Most of the drama unfolded in Q2, with Raikkonen clipping a barrier as he exited the swimming pool complex, breaking the front-right wishbone of his car.

The Finn then hammered the kerb as he tried to keep it on the track, and there then followed the remarkable sight of Raikkonen stopping at La Rascasse.

It was virtually an instant replay of a Ferrari being parked at the famous turn as Michael Schumacher did likewise a year ago.

However, Schumacher's was deemed deliberate by race stewards as he attempted to clinch pole, while 2005 Monaco-winner Raikkonen was simply unable to make the corner.

With yellow flags waving, Massa then almost ran into his team-mate as he turned into La Rascasse, with the Finn attempting to reverse in a bid to return to the garage.

The 27-year-old eventually limped into the pits but there was not enough time for the mechanics to make the necessary repairs.

David Coulthard will start 16th for Red Bull Racing after being penalised by the stewards for blocking Heikki Kovalainen's Renault during Q2.

The Finn was on a charging lap but had the door slammed shut on him by the veteran Scot as they exited La Rascasse.

Coulthard had made Q3 and was on course for a top-10 placing, but following an investigation by the stewards he was demoted and now has no chance of emulating his third-place finish of last season.

Coulthard's penalty handed a reprieve to Jenson Button as he had initially qualified 11th, three thousandths of a second outside the top 10 behind Honda team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

The Briton eventually moved up only one further place as he will start 10th, with Barrichello ninth - the duo's best displays for the previously struggling team this year.

Ahead of them are Giancarlo Fisichella for Renault in fourth, with the Williams of Nico Rosberg fifth and Mark Webber's Red Bull sixth, followed by the Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

Qualifying took place on a dry track as the final practice session had been blighted by rain.

The hour-long run had culminated in the remarkable sight of Adrian Sutil in his Spyker at the top of the timesheets, albeit with a lap over 20 seconds slower than the fastest in Thursday practice.

It is fair to say the natural order was restored when qualifying started, with the first 15 minutes ending with the Spykers failing to make Q2.

Christijan Albers failed to record a time, while there was small consolation for German rookie Sutil as he set his best qualifying position of the season of 19th.

As is customary there was a surprise amongst the first six to be eliminated, and in this case it was the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher, down in a miserable 20th - the German's worst since the British Grand Prix in July 1998.

Qualifying session 2

1 Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:15.431

2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:15.479

3 Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:15.576

4 Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:15.733

5 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:16.034

6 Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1:16.054

7 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 1:16.100

8 David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull-Renault 1:16.391

9 Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 1:16.420

10 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:16.454