Hamilton takes pole at Chinese GP

SHANGHAI, China -- Lewis Hamilton took another giant stride towards claiming the world championship in his rookie season as he took pole position for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

His main title rival and McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso could only qualify fourth as the 22-year-old Briton claimed his fifth pole of a remarkable and eventful first season in Formula One.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who led all three practice sessions before the qualifying, was second fastest with Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa of Brazil in third.

'"We are in the best position to start the race. I feel very optimistic about it. We have a good car I know the team will do a great job," Hamilton said.

" For me I approach tomorrow the same as every race. I want to win., I want to do a good job for the team and if I do that it might be a good day for us."

"Fingers crossed."

Hamilton had a time of 1 minute, 35.908 seconds on the 3.4-mile Shanghai Intenational circuit as barely sixth tenths of a second separated the leading four runners.

Raikkonen did 1:36.044 with Massa at 1:36.221 and two-time defending champion Alonso recording 1:36.576.

Saturday's qualifying saw fine performances from David Coulthard and Mark Webber in the Red Bulls as they claimed fifth and seventh places on the gird, sandwiching Ralf Schumacher of Toyota in sixth.

Hamilton heads into this weekend's race with 107 points, a 12-point lead over Alonso.

Hamilton will become the first rookie to clinch the title if he finishes ahead of Alonso in Shanghai, or maintains at least an 11-point margin with only the Brazilian Grand Prix to go.

However, thunderstorms are predicted over the weekend, with a typhoon forecast to hit Taiwan late Saturday.

If it stays on its current path, the eye of the storm was expected to strike land about 2200 miles south of Shanghai late Sunday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.

Qualifying had rain influencing the decisions as some cars carried set-up for rain while others had dry settings with differences in springs and brake cooling.

Ferrari and McLaren have won all the 15 races so far with Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen each notching four victories.

Ferrari has won two of the previous three races here and the red cars could be the downfall of Alonso.

If Raikkonen and Massa were to finish first and second for Ferrari -- and if Alonso and Hamilton follow third and fourth -- there would be still be an unassailable 11-point gap between Hamilton and Alonso after the race.

Raikkonen, with a outside chance to win the title, is third in the standings with 90 points while Massa has 80.

Late on Friday Hamilton was cleared by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) after a hearing and review of an incident in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton was accused of accelerating and decelerating behind the safety car during a caution period on the 46th lap, spraying water from a wet track and causing Red Bull's Webber and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel to collide.

Vettel was originally given a 10-place starting grid penalty for this race for running into the back of Webber's car, but that was reduced because the stewards felt that conditions were "exceptionally bad." E-mail to a friend

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