Hamilton claims stunning pole position in Japan

Hamilton's time of 1 minute 25.368 seconds around a damp Fuji Speedway edged out closest rival Alonso by just seven one hundredths of a second to hand the 22-year-old a decisive advantage for the 67-lap race.

Kimi Raikkonen's slim championship hopes took a blow as he could only claim third in his Ferrari while team-mate Felipe Massa was fourth.

A satisfied Hamilton said: "It was a good session for us, the whole weekend has started off a little bit better than others.

"It was a good car today in tricky conditions. I'm very, very fortunate the team did a fantastic job in getting it set up right.

"When you're out there you don't really know where you are and they just timed it to perfection."

Hamilton said of his crucial final lap: "It was quite a good lap, I was happy with it. I improved, cleaned up a couple of corners."

There had been some doubt as to whether the session would go ahead given morning practice had to be abandoned due to fog and drizzle.

But the lack of preparation proved no hindrance for Hamilton, who held his nerve to surpass Alonso's time of 1min 25.438secs with a make-or-break lap after the chequered flag had fallen.

All three qualifying sessions had seen the advantage swing back and forth between the McLarens and Ferraris, indicating tomorrow's race will be a closely-fought affair.

Alonso had made most of the running in qualifying three as his first lap proved to be the quickest for the majority of the 15-minute period.

Hamilton was languishing in fourth place after Raikkonen and Massa had both edged ahead of the Briton before Alonso improved his leading time with just over a minute to go.

Raikkonen was on course to take pole, however, but lost time in the final section of his last lap which saw the Finn just miss out before Hamilton's late intervention captured pole position.

Jenson Button enjoyed an excellent afternoon to put a Honda that has struggled nearly all season seventh on the grid, while Sebastian Vettel did brilliantly to finish ninth in his Toro Rosso.

Nick Heidfeld was fifth for BMW Sauber, while Nico Rosberg finished sixth, although he will be penalised 10 places for changing the engine in his Williams.

Mark Webber's Red Bull will start eighth, while Heidfeld's team-mate Robert Kubica rounded out the top 10.

Hamilton was fastest in qualifying two as he edged out Alonso by the smallest of margins with a time of 1min 24.753secs, while Raikkonen and Massa finished third and fourth respectively.

Button followed up an impressive first run by finishing sixth but David Coulthard could only bring his Red Bull home in 13th place and did not make it through to the final session, although he will start 12th because of Rosberg's demotion.

The Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen were also casualties along with Jarno Trulli's other Toyota.

Massa had set the early pace in qualifying one marginally ahead of Alonso with Raikkonen again third and Hamilton fourth.

Ralf Schumacher's collision with Sakon Yamamoto at Turn 10 towards the end of qualifying one irreparably damaged his Toyota, meaning the German could not take part in qualifying two and was condemned to 15th place.

Anthony Davidson was eliminated in the first session and will start his Super Aguri in 19th position, while Honda's Rubens Barrichello also failed to progress.

Hamilton, who punched the air in delight after crossing the finish line, was confident he can turn his pole position into victory in 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.

"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."

Alonso was satisfied to claim second despite leading for most of qualifying three.

"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 revealed he had a slight mechanical problem that undermined his chances of grabbing pole.

"I had a small problem with the gearbox, which we can fix, so I had to back off," he said.

"I'm confident we will have a good car in the race."