Hamilton powers to pole in U.S. GP

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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- Championship leader Lewis Hamilton again upstaged his McLaren teammate and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso to claim pole position for Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

Alonso had set the pace in the opening two mini-sessions of qualifying but Hamilton edged ahead with a sizzling time of one minute 12.331 seconds for his second consecutive pole.

Last weekend in Canada, the precocious 22-year-old led from start to finish for his first grand prix victory to open up an eight point lead in the race for the tile over Alonso, who struggled to seventh.

They will share the front row for the third straight grand prix, with the Ferraris of Felipe Massa of Brazil and Finn Kimi Raikkonen on the second row after an improved performance on their disappointing showing in Montreal.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen qualified fifth and sixth fastest.

German teenager Sebastian Vettel, who will make his Formula One race debut on Sunday in place of Robert Kubica after the Pole failed a fitness test following his big crash in Canada, will start a superb seventh for BMW Sauber.

But all eyes are again on Hamilton, who has finished on the podium in each of the six rounds of his debut season, capped with his confident victory in Canada.

"I'm quite surprised to be honest," he said of his afternoon's work.

"I just had to pull it all out and my two last laps were spot on...so I couldn't be happier. I didn't really expect to be on pole, I thought Fernando would have been quicker, but obviously not," he added.

"Getting my second pole is even better than last week. When I came across the line and the team told me I had P1 again I screamed in my helmet and just through the whole lap I was extremely ecstatic."

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