Hamilton in pole position to clinch world title

The 22-year-old, bidding to become the first rookie in Formula One history to win the prestigious title, had trailed Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa for the majority of the session.

But he produced a time of one minute 35.908 seconds on his final lap in Qualifying Three to edge out the Finn by just over a tenth of a second, with Massa settling for third and championship rival Fernando Alonso only fourth.

Hamilton was delighted to claim pole after what he described as an emotional 48 hours following the trial by YouTube that threatened to see him stripped of last weekend's crucial Japanese Grand Prix win.

"This weekend's been a bit of rollercoaster and quite an emotional trip," he said on ITV4.

"I found out they were going to investigate the way I was behaving in the race under the safety car.

"I thought I was going to get a penalty for sure.

"Thankfully, with the team support, we pulled through it.

"Yesterday was a tough day.

"With that at the back of my mind, it was not easy to forget about something like that, not knowing if you would get your points taken away.g

"Good decision by the FIA last night.

He added: "It is my first time here so just chipping away at it each time but absolutely thrilled to get pole."

Raikkonen was satisfied with his qualifying performance.

"We'd rather have been on pole but we have very good speed in the car," he said.

"I'm pretty happy and there's probably different fuel levels in the car.

Massa added: "Top three is okay and if it is raining tomorrow, it will be a lottery."

Hamilton, who holds a 12-point lead over Spanish team-mate Alonso going into the penultimate race of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit, set the first competitive time of the session, a lap of 1min 36.610secs, with just over six minutes remaining.

Alonso just failed to beat that mark before Raikkonen, who had dominated all three practice sessions, narrowly surpassed the 22-year-old.

However, Massa went three tenths quicker than the Finn to set a new benchmark of 1min 36.221secs and all four drivers dived into the pits before emerging for their final runs.

Hamilton crossed the line first and waited anxiously as the other three contenders failed to outdo the Brit.

Raikkonen will therefore line-up alongside the McLaren with Massa ending third, three tenths of a second in arrears while Alonso was over half a second behind his team-mate in fourth.

David Coulthard will start an excellent fifth in his Red Bull, ahead of Ralf Schumacher and team-mate Mark Webber.

BMW Sauber duo Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica line-up eighth and ninth, while Jenson Button's Honda completes the Top 10.

Raikkonen had led the way in Qualifying Two from team-mate Massa, with McLaren duo Alonso and Hamilton third and fourth respectively.

Coulthard finished a strong seventh, while Button scraped through to the final session but Anthony Davidson was eliminated and starts 15th, one place behind Heikki Kovalainen's Renault.

Raikkonen left it late in Qualifying One, setting the fastest time on his only flying lap with little over two minutes remaining in the session, just ahead of Massa.

Hamilton was third and Alonso fourth, while Coulthard again finished an impressive seventh in his Red Bull.

Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella was the biggest casualty, while Honda's Rubens Barrichello and Alex Wurz's Williams were also eliminated early.