Formula 1’s new three-part qualifying session served up drama aplenty and a slice of history in Bahrain this afternoon.

Michael Schumacher set about banishing the ghosts of a dismal 2005 by earning the 65th pole position of his glittering career – equalling the record of the late Ayrton Senna, which has stood since 1994.

But there was heartbreak for one of Schumacher’s heirs apparent, Kimi Raikkonen, who was pitched into a high-speed accident when his McLaren’s suspension let go.

Schumacher had looked menacing through free practice but the manner in which he calmly snatched pole from the grasp of favourites Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in the final qualifying segment was a surprise.

The fact that Schumacher’s relatively unheralded team-mate Felipe Massa annexed the other front row spot prompted cynics to conclude that Ferrari has gone for qualifying glory at the expense of race strategy.

But the team’s strategic guru Ross Brawn denied resorting to such short-termism, telling ITV Sport that Ferrari chose the more “conservative” of the two options it had considered before the session.

We will find out tomorrow, but in the meantime the team can celebrate answering its detractors in the most convincing fashion.

Massa’s performance on his Ferrari debut was particularly impressive.

The Brazilian very nearly dislodged Schumacher from pole in the tense final moments, missing out by just 0.047s.

In the post-qualifying press conference he cheekily ventured that he would have taken pole had he not been held up by former team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella!

After topping this morning’s practice session, Button came up 0.1s short when it really mattered, but third on the grid will still give him a strong launchpad for tomorrow’s race.

The Briton’s Honda team was the first of the pole contenders to blink in the final session, opting to bolt on a new set of tyres early on to bank a decent time.

The tactic meant that Button had to use another fresh set of Michelins later on, which may put him at a disadvantage in tomorrow’s race.

Renault, by contrast, played it cool and waited until the climax of the session before showing its hand.

Having set the pace in the two knock-out sessions, Alonso was poised to strike – only to fluff his first hot lap when his new tyres were at their best.

Fourth on the grid was not what the Spaniard was aiming for, but the discrepancy in times suggests he may well have more fuel on board than the three men ahead of him.

Indeed, the Ferrari duo and Button were the only drivers to improve their times between the second knock-out session and the final 20-minute shoot-out; most others dropped at least half a second.

Fuel strategy remains the big unknown and all the teams will be poring over the data this evening trying to extrapolate what they can from their rivals' times.

After a troubled weekend so far, Juan Pablo Montoya was pleased to haul his McLaren up to fifth on the grid ahead of the second Honda of Rubens Barrichello.

Montoya’s team-mate Raikkonen played a more high-profile part in the proceedings – albeit not by design or in the way he would have wanted.

The Finn was minding his own business braking for the tricky turn 9/10 double left-hander when his McLaren’s rear suspension buckled under the load, tearing off the rear wing and sending the car into a lurid high-speed spin.

Raikkonen tried to wrestle the badly mangled car back to the pits, Gilles Villeneuve style, but there was never any chance that he would play any further part in the session.

In a scenario that will seem all too familiar to him, Raikkonen will have to claw his way through from the very back of the grid tomorrow afternoon.

Lets face it - its going to be interesting to see Kimi though come through the field...his first task will be to  get passed Sato  LOL