Fuji, Japan - World championship leader Lewis Hamilton on Saturday secured pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, beating Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen into second place. The McLaren-Mercedes driver posted a time of 1 minute 18.404 seconds for the 4.563 kilometre-long lap.
The second row on the grid belongs to Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and Renault's Fernando Alonso who finished with the third and fourth fastest time respectively.
Hamilton's main challenger for the title, Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari, will only start from fifth position on the grid, alongside Robert Kubica in a BMW-Sauber.
The top ten are completed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, who will start from the fourth row on the grid and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais who had the ninth and tenth fastest time on the day.
Nick Heidfeld, whose Sauber-BMW team earlier in the week announced that he will keep his place for next season, will start from a disappointing 16th place after failing to qualify past the first session.
Ahead of the 16th of 18-season races Hamilton has a seven point lead at the top of the drivers' standings from Massa. The Briton has 84 points to Massa's 77.
