Lewis Hamilton ensured he has the best chance possible of extending his World Championship lead after securing pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix in qualifying today. The McLaren driver shot to the top of the timesheet late on with a time of one minute 18.404 seconds on the Fuji Speedway circuit. But there was disaster for Felipe Massa as the Ferrari driver will start fifth on the grid tomorrow. Kimi Raikkonen finished second with a time of 1:18.644 while Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen took third and Singapore Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso fourth for Renault.