Hamilton closes in on F1 title

Updated 17.14 Sat Oct 06 2007

Keywords: Chinese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Ferrari, Formula One, Lewis Hamilton, sport

Lewis Hamilton has boosted his chances of becoming Formula One's first rookie world champion this weekend after he took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The McLaren sensation, who was cleared of any involvement in an accident at last weekend's race in Japan, posted a time of one minute 35.908 seconds in final qualifying Shanghai International Circuit, a tenth of a second ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"This weekend's been a bit of rollercoaster and quite an emotional trip" - Lewis Hamilton

After an emotional 48 hours, which could have seen him be stripped of the ten points he claimed for winning the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton was delighted to let his driving do the talking.

Hamilton, who will make Formula One history as long as he finishes ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso in China, said: "This weekend's been a bit of rollercoaster and quite an emotional trip.

"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. Good decision by the FIA. "

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

Raikkonen, whose title hopes are still hanging by a thread, was satisfied with his qualifying performance, coming ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa, who will start on the second row of the grid alongside Alonso.

The Finnish Ferrari racer said on posting the second quickest time in Shanghai: "We'd rather have been on pole but we have very good speed in the car. I'm pretty happy and there's probably different fuel levels in the car."

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

Jenson Button's Honda was tenth fastest, behind the BMW Sauber duo Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.