Lewis Hamilton, centre, beat Robert Kubica, right, and Heikki Kovalainen, left, to pole position [AFP]

Hamilton edged out BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica for the first pole of the year, with the Polish driver making his first appearance on the front row by qualifying second fastest.

While the 23-year-old Briton celebrated his seventh pole position from just 18 starts, his main rival Raikkonen endured an agonising afternoon as he was eliminated after the first phase of qualifying when his car coasted to a halt with a fuel pressure problem.

The Finn, winner in Melbourne from pole position on his Ferrari debut last year, will start from 16th in a race that could prove trickier than usual due to the absence of traction control and other so-called driver aids.

Compatriot Heikki Kovalainen qualified third on his debut for McLaren and swept champions Ferrari out of the top three places with Brazilian Felipe Massa fourth for the Italian team.

"It's going to be a very tough race tomorrow and we just have to do the best we can in managing our tyres and hope for the best."

Raikkonen looks for points

Raikkonen, who beat Hamilton to last year's driver's championship title by just one point, focused on getting into the points any way he could in Sunday's race.

"Clearly I am disappointed," Raikkonen told reporters.

"I had a problem with the electronic fuel pump which forced me to stop near the pit lane and so it was impossible for me to get back to the garage to try and fix the problem.

"These things happen but it's definitely not the best way to start the season.

"Now we must try to do our best to pick up some points tomorrow because it is important to score something in every race."

Fernando Alonso, Spain's double world champion now back with Renault after a turbulent year alongside Hamilton at McLaren, failed to reach the final 10-car shootout for pole and will line up 12th on the grid.

Local favourite crashes

Germany's Nick Heidfeld showed BMW Sauber's strength with fifth place alongside Italian Jarno Trulli in the Toyota on the third row, and behind them, Germany's Nico Rosberg qualified seventh for Williams with Briton David Coulthard eighth for Red Bull.

Two Germans starting their first full season filled the fifth row, with Toyota's Timo Glock ninth and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel 10th, while Red Bull's Mark Webber, the only Australian in Sunday's race, crashed out in the second session in a big disappointment for local fans.

"It was just a failure on the front right of the car, so it pitched me off," Webber said.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, the former Ferrari race winner who failed to score a point last year in a nightmare season for Honda, raised his team's morale with 11th place on the grid.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella narrowly failed to take Force India through to the second phase of qualifying with a fighting 17th place.

At the back, struggling Super Aguri claimed a small victory when Japan's Takuma Sato pipped Renault's Brazilian rookie Nelson Piquet for 20th place.

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