The McLaren driver dominated the first two stages of qualifying on the Albert Park circuit but was unable to prevent rival Raikkonen from taking pole position after the Finn clocked the fastest lap time of the session in one minute 26.072 seconds, nearly half a second faster than Alonso.

"We should try to win the race for sure, " Alonso said. "We are second so we are in the second best position to win and I think we can do it. I think we have made huge progress and improvement from the last test in terms of the car performance. I am quite happy with the qualifying and very optimistic."

Alonso's teammate Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a fantastic start to his Formula One career in qualifying fourth alongside the BWM Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.