Hamilton takes pole for Japanese GP

McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton boosted his Formula One title chances by taking pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix while Ferrari rival Felipe Massa qualified only fifth. The Briton will start ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen...

McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton boosted his Formula One title chances by taking pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix while Ferrari rival Felipe Massa qualified only fifth.

The Briton will start ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on the front row.

Brazilian Massa trails Hamilton by seven points with three races remaining this season, including Sunday's round at Fuji. The following is the grid:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:18.404
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:18.644
3. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1:18.821
4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:18.852
5. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:18.874
6. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:18.979
7. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:19.026
8. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:19.118
9. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso 1:19.638
10. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso 1:20.167
11. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull 1:18.187
12. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 1:18.274
13. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1:18.354
14. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams 1:18.594
15. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams 1:18.672
16. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:18.835
17. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:18.882
18. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:19.100
19. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1:19.163
20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India 1:19.910

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