F1 Japanese GP - Hamilton on Pole

Hamilton takes pole position for Japanese Grand Prix

Qualifying for the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix took place at the Fuji Speedway earlier today and Lewis Hamilton put together a stunning lap to take pole position.

Hamilton now has the perfect opportunity to increase his championship lead over Felipe Massa who could only qualify for tomorrow's race in 5th.

The British McLaren driver looked set to finish behind current F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen who was looking strong after two quick laps in Q3 but Hamilton put together a 1:18.404sec lap to secure pole position over the Finn by 0.2secs.

Felipe Massa was on for a second row grid position in third place until both Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen clocked quicker laps that demoted Massa back to the third row starting from 5th.

Massa's best chance for tomorrow's race is for rain and a safety car to upset Hamilton's strategy or for team-mate Raikkonen to pass the McLaren early on and hold him up long enough for Massa to gain ground.

Unfortunately for Massa, that will mean getting passed Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen with the latter surely under team orders to keep Massa at bay for as long as possible.

BMW's Robert Kubica will join the Brazilian on the third row with the Polish driver the only BMW in the top ten shoot-out after a disappointing Nick Heidfeld dropped out in Q1

Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock impressed Toyota at their home grand prix with strong performances that will see start on the fourth row in 7th and 8th positions.

Provisional starting grid for Sunday's race

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m18.404s

2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m18.644s

3. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m18.821s

4. ALONSO Renault 1m18.852s

5. MASSA Ferrari 1m18.874s

6. KUBICA BMW 1m18.979s

7. TRULLI Toyota 1m19.026s

8. GLOCK Toyota 1m19.118s

9. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m19.638s

10. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m20.167s

11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m18.187s

12. PIQUET Renault 1m18.274s

13. WEBBER Red Bull 1m18.354s

14. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m18.594s

15. ROSBERG Williams 1m18.672s

16. HEIDFELD BMW 1m18.835s

17. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m18.882s

18. BUTTON Honda 1m19.100s

19. SUTIL Force India 1m19.163s

20. FISICHELLA Force India 1m19.910s