Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel took the first pole of the 2010 Formula One season and the sixth pole of his 44-race career by setting the quickest time in the qualifying session for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Vettel finished with a lap of one minute 54.101 seconds, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa 0.141secs adrift followed by former champions Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, The Telegraph reports.

Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber finished sixth ahead of seven time champion Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes and reigning champion Jenson Button in McLaren.

Schumacher, who made his comeback after three-and-a-half years in retirement, was again bettered by his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, as he was in all three practice sessions. Rosberg finished fifth.

Force India's Adrian Sutil came in at tenth with the timing of one minute 56.309 seconds.

Top ten in the grid:

1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Felipe Massa 3. Fernando Alonso 4. Lewis Hamilton 5. Nico Rosberg 6. Mark Webber 7. Michael Schumacher 8. Jenson Button 9. Robert Kubica 10. Adrian util (ANI)