Formula One news

Hamilton takes Japanese pole

Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix on his final lap during qualifying to qualify ahead of Kim Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen. Felipe Massa failed to match his title rival and will start from fifth on the grid, behind Fernando Alonso.

Conditions were damp in some places, but there was a clear dry line emerging at the start of qualifying and the first upset came when BMW's Nick Heidfeld joined Barrichello, Button, Sutil and Fisichella in dropping out of Q1.

The second session saw Coulthard, Piquet, Webber, Nakajima and Rosberg drop out as at the front Massa led Kovalainen, Hamilton, Trulli, Glock and Vettel.

Kimi Raikkonen was the early pace setter in Q3 ahead of Massa and Hamilton, but the final moments of the pole position shootout brought plenty of excitement. Both Ferraris improved their lap times, but behind them on track, Hamilton was on a storming lap, snatching pole by 0.2s.

The McLaren lines up on the front row with Raikkonen tomorrow ahead of Kovalainen, Alonso and Massa, the Brazilian facing an uphill battle starting from fifth.

Kubica improved to sixth with his final lap ahead of Trulli, Glock, Vettel and Bourdais.

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