Formula 1 World Championship leader
Lewis Hamilton did his utmost to break
Ferrari's spirit by turning what had looked like being a scarlet benefit in qualifying for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix into pole position for McLaren-Mercedes – with title rival
Felipe Massa able to do no better than fifth.
With the sun trying to break through the clouds above Fuji Speedway,
Renault's
Nelsinho Piquet and home hero
Kazuki Nakajima were the first men to tip-toe gently out onto the wet-but-drying circuit on slick tyres at the beginning of Q1. The latter, however, immediately demonstrated just how tricky the track surface still was following the overnight and morning rain, by missing his braking point into turn one and slotting in behind his fellow rookie on the timesheets.
Toyota star
Timo Glock – who had paced Friday's running but blotted his copybook somewhat by spinning on an ‘out' lap in FP3 – displaced Nakajima to move into second, with the sister
Williams of
Nico Rosberg rapidly doing likewise to go third, and the second TF108 of
Jarno Trulli slotting into fourth.
The Italian would, however, steal the top spot away from Piquet with his second lap, as Massa became the first ‘big name' to show his hand, and the Brazilian straightaway took nearly three tenths of a second off new quickest man Glock's best marker.
Hamilton was next to take to the fray, the McLaren-Mercedes ace throwing the gauntlet well-and-truly down to Massa by lopping almost a full half a second off the Ferrari man's effort, and out-pacing team-mate
Heikki Kovalainen to the tune of a gaping eight tenths.
Kimi Raikkonen in the second scarlet machine was also some way off the leading pace at almost six tenths adrift of Hamilton in third, before being displaced by compatriot Kovalainen just moments later.
