Hamilton on pole for F1 season opener

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Last year's rookie hero Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix as McLaren dominated world champions Ferrari in Saturday's qualifying sessions.

Hamilton, who missed out on the world title by one point in his debut season, set the fastest time of one minute 26.714 seconds to head off BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica by 0.155 seconds.

The British driver's new McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen will start third on the grid ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with BMW also taking fifth spot through Nick Heidfeld.

However, world champion Kimi Raikkonen -- who won from pole position last year in Melbourne on his debut for Ferrari -- finished way back in 16th place after suffering mechanical problems during the first session.

However, the Finn will start one place higher after Toyota's Timo Glock was demoted for changing his gearbox and then being charged with blocking another driver.

The 23-year-old Hamilton, who was also fastest in practice, was delighted with his start to 2008 after missing out on the title to Raikkonen in the final race of last season in Brazil.

"It was a great qualifying session," he said after earning his seventh career pole. "It was a bit nerve-racking at the beginning and we didn't really get a great lap.

"We were held up a bit and it wasn't really easy to find the gap, it was a lot harder than I have experienced in the past. But we managed to find some sort of a gap towards the end and I was able to get reasonably decent lap -- but I still felt that I lost a little bit of time.

"Last night we had a couple of problems but the team were ready to do whatever they needed and they pushed very hard to get the car set up properly and be out there. Really, for the start of the season, it couldn't be a better position for both of us."

Ferrari's Raikkonen was unhappy after experiencing the type of breakdown that had dogged his earlier stint with McLaren.

"I'm disappointed," he said. "I had a problem with the electronic fuel pump a few corners from the end of my in-lap, which forced me to stop near the pit lane. It was impossible to get back to the garage to try to fix the problem."

Kubica had edged ahead of Hamilton during the sessions, but a wide corner which forced him onto the grass ultimately prevented him taking pole.

"We have struggled a bit with the car, which we were not expecting, but the team have done a fantastic job," the Pole said. "Yesterday we faced some problems but this morning was much better and qualifying proved that we have good pace.

"I took the risk in pushing very hard on the last lap in Q3, which did not pay off as I went off in turn 12. I lost more than two tenths, which cost me pole. But the race is very long."

Kovalainen, who said before the weekend that felt he was being treated equal to Hamilton by McLaren in a reference to the Briton's problems last year with Fernando Alonso, trailed his team-mate by three-tenths of a second.

"I didn't manage to nail the perfect lap," the Finn said. "I'm satisfied, of course, but there is still room for improvement. All of the qualifying sessions were very good for me, odd mistakes here and there but it just happens, you just have to iron them out. I think we are looking strong for the race."

Toyota's Jarno Trulli was sixth fastest ahead of Nico Rosberg of Williams and Red Bull veteran David Coulthard.

Timo Glock, in the other Toyota, was ninth while Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, was 10th despite not starting the final session.

Two-time world champion Alonso failed to make the cut for the third session on his competitive return to Renault, with the Spaniard to start 12th on the grid behind Honda's Rubens Barrichello. E-mail to a friend

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