Hamilton snatches Shanghai pole

Eurosport - Sun, 19 Oct 09:29:00 2008

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton gave his Formula One title hopes a huge boost when he took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai with his main rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari qualifying third.

2008 Chinese GP McLaren Hamilton - 0

The 23-year-old Briton - who would become the sport's youngest world champion if he wins Sunday's penultimate race of the season and Massa finishes fifth or worse - will line up alongside reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen on the front row.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, the third driver still in the title race - albeit 12 points behind Hamilton - scraped into the second qualifying session but failed to reach the final shoot-out and will start 12th on the grid.

The Pole, who has been complaining about a lack of balance in his car all weekend, had a good morning practice with the third-best time behind team-mate Nick Heidfeld and Hamilton but his troubles returned when it mattered.

The first two rows of the grid will be exactly the same as last season in Shanghai with Renault's Fernando Alonso qualifying fourth.

Last year, Hamilton just needed to beat his championship rivals to win the title but failed to finish the race after skidding off at the pit-lane entry.

The front row in Shanghai will also be a repeat of last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, where Hamilton failed to score any points after a wild start that earned him a drive-through penalty.

The pole position in China is Hamilton's seventh of the season and 13th in 34 races.

His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen could not improve from fifth with his final flying lap of the session, denying McLaren the opportunity to protect Hamilton going into the opening corners.

Red Bull's Mark Webber pulled off the track with his car on fire during the morning's final practice and suffered a 10-place penalty for replacing the engine. That relegated the Australian from sixth to 16th.

Reuters

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  1. Coment on 444. I did not say incapable, he is quite­ capable in my oppinion, just has to set the things­ right, so we'll see waht happens tommorrow. And,­ what do you mean by mentioning Ferarri an Renault and­ Fia trying to stop him. For God's sake, last year­ FIA gave him the chance to win his title although McL­ was supposed to have been nocked out of the­ championship in full! Not just the constructors point!­ Does that also means tha Mcl and Renault tried to take­ down Kimi in 2007?

    From , on Sat 18 Oct 10:24PM

  2. I am trying to respond but the bloody "invalid­ comment" keeps appearing on my screen! What the­ f***k is going on there!

    From , on Sat 18 Oct 10:03PM

  3. bilal m - Very well said. We are supposed to be fans of­ F1 after all and nor character assassins.

    From Baldyman, on Sat 18 Oct 10:02PM

  4. moor5454 - Thanks for the comment. I have no loyalty to­ any team I simply love Motorsport and it saddens me to­ read countless comments from so called F1 fans that­ attack a drivers character simply because of the team­ he drives for and that goes for Massa, Hamilton or­ anyone other driver for that matter. Whilst in­ Singapore neither Ferrari drivers were present at the­ event I attended and their absence was noticed but not­ explained. I cannot comment on the character of either­ driver, having not met them but of the ones I met that­ evening I can honestly say Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian­ Vettel were most sincere and easy going and I­ thoroughly enjoyed my encounter.

    From Baldyman, on Sat 18 Oct 9:59PM

  5. leave the boy alone he is out there trying to win for­ him and all the guys in the garage,have you ever seen­ him run one of them over?

    From stuyg, on Sat 18 Oct 9:57PM

  6. can't you enjoy the sound and the gorgeous designs­ of these super cars!!! I'm a Ferrari fan but I­ swear I have nearly an archive of pictures for nearly­ all teams as many as Ferrari can't you see the­ beauty I swear that who ever wins and of course I­ prefer it to be my fav. team for both titles... but who­ ever wins even if it was Mclaren...F1 is and always­ will be the most gorgeous motor sport besides MotoGP

    From Brayan, on Sat 18 Oct 9:45PM

  7. [POST 440 najmilicko]- "Failure is the foundation­ to Success"

    Look at Hamilton Now!

    He's on­ Pole 2moro, Still Ahead in the Championship, INSPITE of­ being Feared, and Envied, suffering questionable­ penalties, enduring the playground tactics of lessor­ rivals...

    The Boy has B..ls of steel - if he can get­ through this, he can get through anything! and will be­ the Worthy Champion!

    From ck9morgan, on Sat 18 Oct 9:42PM

  8. #426 "linkuplindsay" I have struggled with­ my absolute abhorance to Lewis even scoring any points­ at all since early last season. I'm now comfortable­ with it. It's not a racial thing. I hat Ron Dennis­ and his team, not his drivers. I cheered Alonso's­ championships at Renault (even though he beat the­ greatest of all and that was tough to accept), but when­ he moved to Ronnies outfit I couldn't stand him and­ was so pleased that Kimster took it. It can't be­ racial. I'm white, Ron's white, sure love to­ both of those cars of Ron's in the back-better yet­ in the garage. If Lewis was driving for anyone else I­ could cheer him on. I don't think I'm alone on­ this. F1 is a sport where we root for teams, not just­ drivers. I am pleased to see Ferdinand win again this­ year now that he's in the ugliest car on the grid­ again, just so long as he's ahead of either of the­ "silver stars". It wouldn't matter who­ drove for that guy I couldn't root for him, that­ even includes the great one himself.

    From dstorking, on Sat 18 Oct 9:32PM

  9. "baldyman074" - Well Said!

    HATRED is usually­ reserved for someone who has done something haneous­ directly to an individual - Very odd to hate someone­ you have NEVER met! (those type of people tend to have­ mental issues).

    I too have met Hamilton at Silverstone­ & Brands Hatch, and on both occasions proved to be­ very approachable, polite, and pleasant.

    FINALLY - To­ the Hamilton Haters, is he "AFFECTS YOU" that­ much, why click on any article with his name? you are­ only adding to your misery!

    From Ed, on Sat 18 Oct 9:23PM

  10. C'mon Lewis,
    I'm just a viewer who thinks­ you've brought excitement back to F1 and I think­ you've been treated unfairly this year. Step up to­ the plate, show them your rear end and win in style!­ Most balanced people want to see you win! Go LH

    From ivor, on Sat 18 Oct 9:21PM

  11. Don't forget Mouron. When Lewis is crowned WDC on­ Sunday, you owe me Toast. If Massa doesn't win the­ championship this year, he won't ever. This is a­ one off situation for him.

    From chtech06, on Sat 18 Oct 9:11PM

  12. najmilicko - You state and I quote " Hamilton­ still has to learn how to behave on and off the­ track!" Have you ever met Lewis Hamilton off the­ track? I have, I met him along with a few other drivers­ after Friday practice in Singapore, admittedly our­ meeting was brief but he was a very approachable and­ confident young man who knew how to conduct himself.­ Drivers risk their lives e every tome they get behind­ the wheel of their car for their sport and I commend­ every one of them. As fans, yes have loyalty to a team­ but please, (and this goes to everyone) stop ripping­ drivers to bits. Its getting monotonous.

    From Baldyman, on Sat 18 Oct 9:07PM

  13. INTERESTING – If Hamilton is so “incapable”, why is it­ taking TWO Ferraris and a RENAULT, and the FIA to join­ together in a bid to stop him ………Could this be the­ FEAR-FACTOR?

    From Ed, on Sat 18 Oct 9:07PM

  14. I can't stand McLaren and Ron. If Lewie was driving­ for anyone else I could root for him to do well,­ instead I hope he's put in the gravel by Alonso. ­ Senna was so fun to watch, but even back then I­ didn't want to see the stupid McLarens win, it was­ great to see him punt the pouting Prost though.

    From dstorking, on Sat 18 Oct 8:58PM

  15. As good as Massa is and will undoubtedly will be World­ Champion one day he has, like Alonso last year, come up­ against a driver of great skill and courage in the form­ of Lewis Hamilton. People will knock Hamilton and will­ pick fault in everything he does and this has been­ shown to great effect on this forum. He is the F1­ equivalent to Marmite, you'll either love him or­ hate him.

    From Baldyman, on Sat 18 Oct 8:57PM

  16. I don't want to comment on this article as I­ don't want another invalid comment.

    From john, on Sat 18 Oct 8:52PM

  17. Well Michaeldf..., its sure what you mean but come on.­ Need to prove he is worth of it. Lets wait and see! He­ could have won it last year as well, but did not­ happen! That's the price for being so pretencious­ and cocky without earning it first. He deserved the­ penalty as Massa did. So they're equal on that­ term. However, think about "good for­ business" quotes! Its all about money isn't­ it? Look what happened last year, a true FARSE! McLaren­ was stripped in constr. chapionship for very well known­ reasons, yet their drivers were given the opportunity­ to win the drivers title! What a decision!!! I­ don't think there's any consistency there! Or­ the great god Bahus decided to stick his fingers there,­ maybe? LH could be great and adored by many, if he just­ knew better. Being arrogant doesen't help, does it?­ You have to earn the right to be such! Too much dust­ around a young guy like him brings no good news. We got­ two guys that want to proove they're worth of being­ immortal and join KR and FA in that list. Only one will­ win this year so they better show they're up to it,­ but not showing their balls and playing filthy but by­ being true sportsmen and winning it without forcing the­ others out of the track. Was it becose he knew he­ couldn't be competitive? Or anything else? I could­ think of million things of what went wrong there, which­ makes me remember the last race 2007! Why the hell did­ LH risk the whole nine yards, when he could've been­ on the top? I think there's something missing IN­ THERE(lack of grey cells)? That all goes in hand with­ his arrogance and his age. I'm not saying he­ isn't good, actually I think he's one of the­ best after Mikka an Schummi, but still has to learn how­ to behave on and off the track!

    From , on Sat 18 Oct 8:42PM

  18. I have always seen Massa as the best driver though­ he's had some bad times. If ferrari had done all­ things right Massa would have been leading the­ championship. My hope will never leave Massa it will be­ a ferrari 1,2 without hamilton at the finish

    From ralph, on Sat 18 Oct 8:41PM

  19. sian_piglet_harris - The Italian Job T-shirt really is­ awesome and It's on my christmas list and I'll­ wear it with pride. Spotting someone wearing it in the­ Paddock would be hilarious. Very well done Miss.

    From Baldyman, on Sat 18 Oct 8:39PM

  20. how many of us posting on here have had a knock in­ their road cars?

    From stuyg, on Sat 18 Oct 8:39PM
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