Hamilton takes pole for Japanese Grand Prix (Roundup)

By Jens Marx Oct 11, 2008, 6:49 GMT

   Fuji, Japan - World championship leader Lewis Hamilton Saturday secured pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, beating Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen into second place.

   The McLaren-Mercedes driver posted a time of 1 minute 18.404 seconds for the 4.563 kilometre-long lap.

   Hamilton, who won the Japanese Grand Prix last season from pole and secured his sixth pole of this year, said he had a good qualifying session.

   'I managed to put all the sectors together for the last lap and bring it home. I was very, very happy, the team have done a phenomenal job.'

   Defending world champion Raikkonen said that it was nice to be back on the front row of the grid after a long wait. 'But it is still not where I want to be. I am still not happy with the way things are going and I am not 100 per cent happy with the car. It is quite frustrating.

   'We will see what we can do in the race. I do not have much to lose. We want to try to win both championships. It will not be easy against McLaren, but I will try to do my best in the race.'

   The second row on the grid belongs to Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and Renault's Fernando Alonso who finished with the third and fourth fastest time respectively.

   Hamilton's main challenger for the title, Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari, will only start from fifth position on the grid, alongside Robert Kubica in a BMW-Sauber.

   The top ten are completed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, who will start from the fourth row on the grid and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais who had the ninth and tenth fastest time on the day.

Nick Heidfeld, whose Sauber-BMW team earlier in the week announced that he will keep his place for next season, will start from a disappointing 16th place after failing to qualify past the first session.

   Ahead of the 16th out of 18 season races Hamilton has a seven-point lead at the top of the drivers' standings from Massa. The Briton has 84 points to Massa's 77.

   The 23-year old, who last year threw away a 12-point lead in the championship standings with two races to go and finished runner-up to Raikkonen, said that he was trying to take each race as it comes.

   'Compared to last year I am definitely looking at the championship and what I need to do to win it. It is obviously within my grasp. Just keep the car on the road, bring it home and score some good points.'

   Hamilton said he liked racing in Japan. 'I like Fuji. It is my third time in Japan. The whole atmosphere here is quite unique, the people here are probably the nicest people I have ever met, the food is great.

   'We are out in the mountains next to Mount Fuji which is a spectacular view and the track is really cool, so the whole feeling around here is just great.'

   In the constructors' standings just a single point separate McLaren from Mercedes, with the former leading with 135 points.