2008 Japanese Grand Prix, Qualifying: Hamilton takes Fuji pole position
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton took his sixth seasonal pole position for Sunday’s 2008 Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway circuit. The Briton clocked a best time of 1:18.404, preceding by 0.240 seconds Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (1:18.644) who, after a long break, will take the start from the first row. Third place for Kovalainen‘s Mclaren (1:18.821) ahead of Singapore Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso (1:18.852).
Hamilton’s main rival for the Drivers’ Championship, Felipe Massa, had to settle with the fifth spot (1:18.874) ahead of BMW’s Robert Kubica (1:18.979), Toyota duo with Jarno Trulli seventh (1:19.026) and Timo Glock eighth (1:19.118), and Toro Rosso duo with Sebastian Vettel ninth (1.19.638) and Sebastien Bourdais tenth (1:20.167).
A disappointing qualifying session for BMW’s Nick Heidfeld who got knocked out in Q1 along with both Hondas and Force Indias.
2008 Japanese Grand Prix, Qualifying Session results:
Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:18.071 | 1:17.462 | 1:18.404 | 15 |
2 | 1 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:18.160 | 1:17.733 | 1:18.644 | 20 |
3 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:18.220 | 1:17.360 | 1:18.821 | 22 |
4 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:18.290 | 1:17.871 | 1:18.852 | 19 |
5 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:18.110 | 1:17.287 | 1:18.874 | 18 |
6 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:18.684 | 1:17.931 | 1:18.979 | 20 |
7 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:18.501 | 1:17.541 | 1:19.026 | 23 |
8 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:17.945 | 1:17.670 | 1:19.118 | 24 |
9 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | STR-Ferrari | 1:18.559 | 1:17.714 | 1:19.638 | 21 |
10 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 1:18.593 | 1:18.102 | 1:20.167 | 20 |
11 | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:18.303 | 1:18.187 | 16 | |
12 | 6 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 1:18.300 | 1:18.274 | 11 | |
13 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:18.372 | 1:18.354 | 13 | |
14 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:18.640 | 1:18.594 | 16 | |
15 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:18.740 | 1:18.672 | 16 | |
16 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:18.835 | 9 | ||
17 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:18.882 | 9 | ||
18 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:19.100 | 11 | ||
19 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 1:19.163 | 10 | ||
20 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 1:19.910 | 10 |