SHANGHAI (AP) - Sebastian Vettel led qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, narrowly edging his teammate Mark Webber on Saturday to give Red Bull its fourth straight pole position of the Formula One season.

It is the first time a team had taken four consecutive pole positions since the 2007 season - with Vettel qualifying a quarter of a second ahead of Webber.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso will start Sunday’s race from third place and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg from fourth.

The McLaren pair Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth and sixth, ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Renault’s Robert Kubica. Michael Schumacher of Mercedes and Adrian Sutil of Force India rounded out the top 10.

Red Bull’s monopolization of the front row put the team in a strong position to record back-to-back 1-2 finishes, both from race-to-race this season and year-to-year in China.

“We are proving we have a very fast car, independent of the circuit type,” Vettel said. “We always seem to be up there.”

Alonso’s strong qualifying performance, only one-tenth of a second behind Webber, augured well for Ferrari, given the car has shown its best in races rather than qualifying this season.

“We know the race pace is better for us,” Alonso said. “We feel more confident with fuel in the car and on the long runs.”

One major factor that could upset the top qualifiers is the forecast for rain Sunday.

“It will be raining tomorrow, its just a question of when,” Vettel said. “No matter, dry, wet, we should be well armed for tomorrow.”

Vettel’s win in China last season was achieved in the wet, when the race started behind a safety car.