Alonso secures Hungary pole

The timing screens went black towards the end of the top-10 shootout as not even the drivers had a clue as to who had taken pole.

After several minutes, it finally came through Alonso had taken pole, followed by the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Lewis Hamilton fourth for McLaren.

It was the double world champion's first pole since the Italian Grand Prix in 2007, and the 18th of his career.

Explaining the chaos at the end, Alonso said: "We were chatting amongst ourselves in parc ferme trying to find out what happened.

"It was a fantastic effort from the team. We put in some new parts at the Nurburging (German Grand Prix), and we've showed we have made a step forward."

Behind world champion Hamilton will be Williams' Nico Rosberg, the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, with championship leader Jenson Button down in a disastrous eighth.

The heat of Budapest was meant to aid Button's cause after the cool of Britain and Germany had led to Red Bull one-twos in the last two races.

But not even the sunshine could come to Button's aid, and his 21-point lead in the title race threatens to be eroded further at the Hungaroring.

Behind Button is Williams' Kazuki Nakajima, but Felipe Massa will not race after being knocked unconscious during a major accident in qualifying.