The Ferrari driver lost his world championship last season to Fernando Alonso but he banished memories of that capitulation with a stunning performance yesterday.

He got the better of the new knock-out qualifying to take the 65th pole position of his career, taking him level with the late Ayrton Senna.

Schumacher, who has already set new marks for championships, wins and points, said: "It makes me proud, that is probably all I should say about it."

The 37-year-old, who is joined on the front row by team-mate Felipe Massa, was more vocal on Ferrari's return to form after their dismal 2005 campaign.

Schumacher admitted he was surprised to prevail given the pre-season form of his rivals, with world champion Fernando Alonso a downcast fourth for pre-season favourites Renault.

"It was a long time I had to wait to get back up here, " he said. "As the weekend was progressing I was not expecting this.

"I thought we might be in touch but to be on the front row and so competitive is a very nice surprise, in particular if you remember what happened last year.

"It is an amazing result for all who have worked so hard.

We have good reason to believe all season we are looking strong."

Massa was superb on his Ferrari debut to claim second place, keeping Honda's Jenson Button off the front row. The Brazilian said: "For me it is the best way to start the championship, not just starting from second pace but also fighting for pole position, it was good for me."

Button, whose Honda team were so impressive in winter testing, starts from third behind the two Ferraris.

The Englishman is happy with his efforts, especially as final qualifying took place with race fuel on board to give him hope of ultimately outpacing the two red cars.

"They are looking very strong but we still don't know what people are doing with fuel loads, " he said. "Tomorrow is the only day that counts."

Button's performance yesterday has done nothing to diminish his confidence that an elusive first win is beckoning this season.

"I think we will be very disappointed if we don't get a win this year, " he added.

"But we are not thinking about what we will feel at the end of the year, we are concentrating on the moment.

"We've got a really good package, we are just looking forward to tomorrow.

"If we don't get the win we want then so be it - we'll be disappointed but we'll be back out next weekend in Malaysia and challenging again."

The new qualifying system began with a bang as Kimi Raikkonen condemned himself to a lastplace start after failing to complete a lap in the first 15minute session. The Finn suffered a rear suspension failure on his McLaren as he chased a fast lap, leaving him among the first six cars eliminated from qualifying.

Raikkonen's team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth with Rubens Barrichello sixth on his Honda debut. Mark Webber was eighth for Williams and Red Bull's Christian Klien rounded out the top eight.

Klien's team-mate David Coulthard starts from 13th place after the Scotsman failed to make the cut in the second session.

Rookie Nico Rosberg will start from 12th in his Williams after joining Coulthard in missing the cut. Fellow rookie Scott Speed lines up 16th for Scuderia Toro Rosso.