Mercedes' Nico Rosberg has described his maiden pole as "a very special feeling" after qualifying fastest for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Rosberg blitzed the field on his first quick lap in the top 10 shoot-out in Shanghai on Saturday and said: "Now I'm looking forward to starting first tomorrow."
Asked where he found the time, Rosberg said: "The track was cooling off a little, the temperatures were coming down and the rear tyres started working a little better.
"We changed the set up of the car slightly before my last run and then I had the perfect lap. It worked out really well."
However, with Mercedes so far scoring just one point from the opening two Formula One races - that from Michael Schumacher, who will start alongside his fellow German on the front row after second-fastest Lewis Hamilton was demoted five places to seventh on the grid - Rosberg knows he is in need of a finish on Sunday.
"For me, the season starts here because I've not had a good start," he added.
"It's pretty clear that in the race we've not been as good as in qualifying, and we've worked hard to improve that, but it's not something you change in a few weeks.
"It's going to take some time, but we're making progress, and difficult to know where we're going to be in the race.
"But I'm going to work hard and make the most of it."
Having grown up with Rosberg and raced against him in karting, Hamilton was quick to offer his congratulations.
However, in dropping to seventh, Hamilton said: "I've a penalty, but I'm in a good position.
"I made some good set-up changes to the car which feel good.
"It's going to be tough, but I've a lot of good people ahead of me, but I'll be pushing as hard as I can."
Schumacher also hailed Rosberg's "phenomenal lap time", one he also described as "a bit of a surprise".
Schumacher added: "He is known as a good qualifier, but no reason to be unhappy. The opposite - I'm happy for him.
"And it's going to be the first front row of a proper Mercedes 'Silver Arrow' that will take place tomorrow.
"It's not good for Lewis, but it's good for us."
