Lewis Hamilton steered his McLaren to a very important pole position today at the Fuji speedway. The rain from the morning had almost dried , and the conditions were ideal for the run of the mill qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton’s title rival Felipe Massa could only manage a fifth, while his teammate Kimi Raikkonen got the second place in his Ferrari behind the Brit.

Heiki Kovalainen made it in 3rd place making sure that McLaren can give a strong challenge in the constructor’s championship. Force India were as usual in dismal form and last place.

The Toyotas also fared well amongst rumours of bankruptcy and financial woes. They got 7th and 8th place respectively.

Result of the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix qualifying :

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.404

2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:18.644

3. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.821

4. Fernando Alonso (Spn) Renault 1:18.852

5. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:18.874

6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:18.979

7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:19.026

8. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:19.118

9. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:19.638

10. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.167

11. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:18.187

12. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault 1:18.274

13. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:18.354

14. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:18.594

15. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:18.672

16. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:18.835

17. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:18.882

18. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:19.100

19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:19.163

20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:19.910

Photo : www.mclaren.com , media centre