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Journalism of Courage
Lewis hamilton snatched pole position from his McLaren teammate and bitter rival Fernando Alonso with a last-gasp flying lap at the end of a wet and foggy Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session today.
The championship-leading rookie, who has accused Alonso of disloyalty and unsporting behaviour, pummelled the air in jubilation with his fists after shoving the Spaniard into second place.
Double world champion Alonso, two points behind Hamilton with three races left, was on top at the chequered flag but Hamilton pulled out all the stops on his final run to beat him by 0.070 seconds. The pole position, at a track he only saw for the first time on Thursday, was the 22-year-old Briton’s fifth in 15 Formula One races.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, the third man in a thrilling title battle and 13 points adrift of Hamilton, qualified third with Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa fourth. “I’m in a perfect position although obviously I’ve got these two (Alonso and Raikkonen) breathing down my neck,” said Hamilton.
“But I’m not really too bothered. Tomorrow is going to be a tough battle. We are obviously all extremely close in time, but the key is going to be getting down to the first corner.”
Nick Heidfeld qualified fifth for BMW Sauber, with Jenson Button a surprising sixth for Honda.
