( CNN ) -- Mercedes ' Nico Rosberg has secured the first pole position of his career at the qualifying session for Sunday 's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai . The German driver snatched top spot on Saturday with a superb lap of one minute 35.121 seconds , over half a second faster than his nearest rival Lewis Hamilton of McLaren . Mercedes teammate Michael Schumacher finished qualifying in third place . But the seven-time world champion will start from second place in Sunday 's race after the Hamilton incurred a penalty for changing a gearbox which sees him drop down to seventh . Rosber 's emphatic drive is the first time in 110 attempts that the 26-year-old has claimed pole and is the first time since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix that two Mercedes drivers have claimed to the top two qualifying positions . `` It went really well and it 's a very special feeling . It 's fantastic , it all came together . It 's perfect till now so I am very happy . It shows that we are moving forward , '' Rosberg said . `` We are not quite where we want to be in the races , but we are progressing . The first two races of the season have not gone too well . We 've not been as good in races as qualifying lately , '' he added . Bahrain GP gets green light from FIA . But there was little joy for his compatriot and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel who will start from 11th after failing to make the final qualifying session . The Red Bull driver is struggling to make an impact this season , starting the first two races of the season from seventh which were converted into finishes of 12th and 13th in Australia and Malaysia respectively . His teammate Australia 's Mark Webber fared a bit better in qualifying claiming sixth place on the starting grid . Lewis Hamilton 's demotion means Sauber 's Kamui Kobayashi moves up to third on the grid , ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen . McLaren 's Jenson Button will start Sunday 's race from fifth . Ferrari 's Fernando Alonso , winner in Malaysia three weeks ago , had a disappointing qualifying session finishing down in ninth with teammate Felipe Massa three places further back .
Nico Rosberg secures first pole position of career at qualifying for Sunday 's Chinese Grand Prix . Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton is second fastest in the race with a time of 1:28.958, 0.332 seconds behind Rosberg. Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel disappoints in qualifying and starts from 11th .