Nico Rosberg will start from pole position for the first time in his 110-race F1 career. AFP Photo
Schumacher, the seven times champion whose 91st and last win came in
Shanghai with Ferrari in 2006, qualified in third place but will move up to second because McLaren's Lewis Hamilton takes a five place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
The pole was the first for Mercedes with their own works team since the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.
Mercedes left the sport that same year and, despite considerable success as McLaren's engine partner, only returned under their own name in 2010 after they bought the 2009 Mercedes-powered champions Brawn GP team. "It's a great feeling, fantastic," beamed Rosberg, son of Finland's 1982 world champion Keke, whose pole came at the 111th attempt.
His only previous front row appearance was in Malaysia in 2010 But this time he was so confident of the pole that he was in the pitlane and out of the car while others were still trying in vain to beat him.
"For the whole team it's a special moment." The German swept to the top slot by a massive margin, with a best lap of one minute 35.121 seconds compared to Hamilton's 1:35.626.
Hamilton, the 2008 champion and last year's winner in Shanghai, had been on pole in the two previous races of the season with McLaren sweeping the front row in both Australia and Malaysia.
"Congratulations to Nico, it's fantastic," said Hamilton, genuinely pleased for a friend who was a team mate in the junior series in 2000. “I am very proud of him. We grew up together, racing together and always dreamed of being in F1.”
Vettel eleventh
On a day when the focus returned to the track after a build-up dominated by talk of next week's controversial fourth round in Bahrain, double world champion Sebastian Vettel produced another shock.
The Red Bull driver qualified only 11th, his worst performance in qualifying since he became champion.
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