Lewis Hamilton tightened his grip on the Formula One title today by claiming pole position for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix.

The championship leader and winner here last year took his sixth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute 18.404 seconds, and will start four grid positions ahead of his title rival, Felipe Massa.

Massa's Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest — putting him on the front row for the first time since the French Grand Prix — with a time 0.24 seconds slower than the Briton.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Renault's Fernando Alonso finished third and fourth in qualifying at the Fuji Speedway.

"It was one of my best laps," Hamilton said. "We're in a perfect position to step forward and make as many points as we can. It's going to be a tough race because Kimi is right there."

Massa had been quicker than his title rival across the practice sessions. In the second part of qualifying — regarded as a more pure measure of relative speed as all cars carry light fuel loads — Massa was quickest with a time 0.175 seconds ahead of Hamilton, yet he could not find that speed when it mattered most in the final qualifying session.

"I had a good tyre in Q1 and Q2 but in Q3 I could not find grip," Massa said. "For sure I was not happy, not because he was on pole but I did not do a good lap like I did in Q2 or yesterday."

Massa's four-place differential to Hamilton was mitigated by the fact Fuji has ample overtaking opportunities, leaving the Brazilian optimistic he was still in the title fight.

"Kimi being strong and maybe passing in front of Lewis is always a big help," Massa said. "Maybe today the result did not look great but it does not mean tomorrow will be like that."

The long run to the front corner looms as critical in Sunday's race, with Raikkonen carrying the responsibility of trying to beat Hamilton to the turn, allowing Massa to catch up.

Hamilton had been talking in recent races about the need for prudent points scoring, even if it comes at the expense of pushing for victory, to stay in front of Ferrari in the championship.

With that in mind, Hamilton said he will not be too bold if he has to take on Raikkonen at the first corner.

"I will be sensible, I won't be closing the door on anyone," Hamilton said. "I won't be taking any silly risks but I will be racing to win."

BMW's Robert Kubica was sixth fastest, ahead of the Toyota pair of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock.

Glock in particular had been impressive in both dry and wet practice sessions over Friday and Saturday, and Toyota — whose parent company owns Fuji Speedway — may also be carrying heavier fuel.

The disappointment of Saturday's qualifying was BMW's Nick Heidfeld, who was eliminated in the opening session and will start 16th. The German only won his place with the team for next season after stringent efforts to improve his qualifying performance, but he disappointed again in Japan.

Saturday's pre-qualifying practice was on a track made wet by morning rain, giving teams a chance to fine-tune their wet set-ups if the rain arrives for Sunday's race.