Hamilton on pole for Fuji showdown

FUJI, Japan -- Championship leader Lewis Hamilton has boosted his hopes of winning the world title in his rookie season by claiming pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix despite rain and foggy conditions at Fuji.

The young British driver, who set the fastest times in practice on Friday, snatched first place on the grid away from McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso on his last lap.

The 22-year-old clocked a time of one minute 25.368 seconds to edge out world champion Alonso -- who he leads by two points with three races to go -- by just seven one-hundredths of a second.

Ferrari, who have already clinched the constructors' title after McLaren were stripped of all their points due to the spy scandal, saw Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa take third and fourth positions on the grid.

Germany's Nick Heidfeld was fifth fastest for BMW, just ahead of the Williams of compatriot Nico Rosberg, who will start 10 places further back after suffering a penalty for changing his race engine earlier in the weekend.

Britain's Jenson Button, who qualified seventh for Honda, was bumped up one to replace Rosberg.

Ralf Schumacher had a nightamre day for home team Toyota, who own the circuit, as he crashed into Spyker's Sakon Yamamoto at the end of the first session before spinning to a stop.

The German will start the race in 15th place, one behind team-mate Jarno Trulli.

Hamilton afterwards said he was confident he can now win the first grand prix at Fuji Speedway for over 30 years and extend his championship lead.

"I'm quite relaxed if I'm honest and the way this weekend's gone, I'm even more relaxed," he told the UK Press Association.

"I've got these two (Alonso and Raikkonen) breathing down my neck but I'm not bothered. I've got a good car under me."

Spaniard Alonso, who has publicly fallen out with his team-mate in recent months, added: "Everything's going well and we're on the first row, which is quite important for the race.

"There's no difference between the teams in the wet or dry, the battle will be very close. We had the advantage in qualifying but over the race it may be different."

Raikkonen said a slight mechanical problem had hurt his chances of taking pole position.

"I had a small problem with the gearbox, which we can fix, so I had to back off," he told PA. "I'm confident we will have a good car in the race."

Grid:

1. L Hamilton (McLaren) 1:25.368
2. F Alonso (McLaren) 1:25.438
3. K Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:25.516
4. F Massa (Ferrari) 1:25.765
5. N Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1:26.505
6. J Button (Honda) 1:26.913
7. M Webber (Red Bull) 1:26.914
8. S Vettel (Toro Rosso) 1:26.973
9. R Kubica (BMW Sauber) 1:27.225
10. G Fisichella (Renault) 1:26.033
11. H Kovalainen (Renault) 1:26.232
12. D Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:26.247
13. J Trulli (Toyota) 1:26.253
14. V Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) 1:26.948
15. R Schumacher (Toyota) DNS
16. N Rosberg (Williams) 1:26.728
17. R Barrichello (Honda) 1:27.323
18. A Wurz (Williams) 1:27.454
19. A Davidson (Super Aguri) 1:27.564
20. A Sutil (Spyker) 1:28.628
21. T Sato (Super Aguri) 1:28.792
22. S Yamamoto (Spyker) 1:29.668 E-mail to a friend

All About Formula One Racing • Fernando Alonso • Lewis Hamilton