World champion Fernando Alonso of Spain (left) and his Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella after claiming top two pole positions for the Chinese GP in Shanghai on Saturday. (AFP)

Shanghai: Renault swept the front row of the Chinese Grand Prix grid on Saturday to claim first blood in their Formula One constructors’ title showdown with McLaren.

Fernando Alonso, the 24-year-old Spaniard who became the sport’s youngest champion in Brazil last month, roared to pole position ahead of Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.

“It’s the perfect start for us and we have a good strategy for tomorrow as well,” said Alonso.“I am a little bit surprised to be on pole but the car was perfect.”

Renault, who lead McLaren by two points, can secure their first title as a constructor in Sunday’s season-ending race in Shanghai.

McLaren, winners of the last six races, had Finn Kimi Raikkonen in third place and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya fifth.

They will be champions if they score two points more than Renault on Sunday because their title rivals cannot win as many races.

BAR’s Jenson Button, starting his 100th grand prix searching for a first win, lines up alongside Raikkonen on the second row.

“It’s always nice to be on the front row but it doesn't make that much difference,” said Raikkonen, who won from 17th place in Japan last weekend.

“I think we are going to be very strong in the race so I’m not too worried about it. We knew before qualifying that maybe we would not get pole but we are looking for a race win, a one-two, and that’s the main thing.”

Alonso’s sixth pole of the season was tyre supplier Michelin’s 100th.

It was also the first time the two Renaults had lined up together on the front row since Malaysia 2003. Raikkonen won that race for McLaren.

India’s Narain Karthikeyan continued with his impressive performance on the Jordan-Toyota ej15b to qualify in 15th position.

“I had a clean lap. The balance of the car is good. We are ready for the race,” said the 28-year old Indian after clocking 1: 36.707 seconds to home in ahead of former world champion Jacques Villeneuve in Sauber Petronas and Takumo Sato (17th) in Bar Honda.

Karthikeyan’s teammate Tiago Monteiro battled hard to get the right combination of car balance and tyres to finish 19th in 1:39.233.

Commenting on the session on Saturday, Karthikeyan said, “I did a very good qualifying lap even though I have lost a little bit of time compared to this morning.

“Nevertheless, we are satisfied with the balance of the car. I think we also have chosen the right Bridgestone tyre compound for the race. Hopefully we can have a good Grand Prix on Sunday. It will be interesting because there are several places for overtaking here.”

It will be an emotional moment for the Jordan team as this will be the last race under its current name of Jordan Grand Prix.

The Silverstone-based team will be renamed Jordan Midlands from next year, signalling the full takeover by Canadian-Russian business tycoon Alex Schneider.

Meanwhile, while Alonso and Fisichella have an engine specifically tuned for one race, after using their last ones for the mandatory two Grands Prix, Raikkonen must use the same one he had in Japan.

“All weekend we didn’t use the full power until now in qualifying and the result is this,” said Alonso.

The Spaniard finished third in Japan, starting 16th and twice overtaking Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher, and looked forward to another battle with Raikkonen.

Qualifying Results

1. Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:34.080; 2. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) 1:34.401; 3. Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) 1:34.488; 4. Jenson Button (BAR) 1:34.801; 5. Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) 1:35.188; 6. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:35.301; 7. David Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:35.428; 8. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) 1:35.610; 9. Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 1:35.723; 10. Mark Webber (Williams) 1:35.739; 11. Felipe Massa (Sauber) 1:35.898; 12. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:36.044; 13. Antonio Pizzonia (Williams) 1:36.445; 14. Christian Klien (Red Bull) 1:36.472; 15. Narain Karthikeyan (Jordan) 1:36.707; 16. Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber) 1:36.788; 17. Takuma Sato (BAR) 1:37.083; 18. Christijan Albers (Minardi) 1:39.105; 19. Tiago Monteiro (Jordan) 1:39.233; 20. Robert Doornbos (Minardi) 1:39.460.