Lewis - It's within my grasp

Hamilton: Momentum

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Lewis Hamilton has admitted that the Formula One World Championship is firmly within his grasp after he claimed pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

The McLaren Mercedes driver pipped a resurgent Kimi Raikkonen to top spot at the Fuji Speedway, with the Finn's team-mate and Hamilton's main title rival, Felipe Massa, starting down in fifth.

The Englishman holds a seven-point lead over Massa in the Drivers' Championship, an advantage insufficient to enable him to wrap up the title this weekend.

But, given the fact that Hamilton can finish behind Massa in each of the three remaining races and still take the title, his performance on Saturday has certainly boosted his chances of becoming F1's youngest ever World Champion.

"I will try to take each race as it goes," Hamilton said after recording his sixth pole position of the season. "We as a team have to put a really strong effort in to continue with the momentum we have.

"I am approaching the races exactly the same as I have this season. I don't need to change anything, just keep the car on the road and score some good points.

"I had a good qualifying session, quite a bit different to Singapore. We didn't have any problems through Q2, it was pretty straightforward. The first lap didn't seem to be very good.

"Kimi (Raikkonen) was just ahead of me and the last lap I put all the sectors together and bought it home.

"Going to Q3 we had already decided what our strategy would be and we believed it would be competitive and put us in a good position for the race, but qualifying is down to not making mistakes and putting the lap together, it can be very tough.

"We had very good pace here and starting in front of the Ferraris is great. If on Sunday we can push forward with the strategy we have we should be okay.

"The team have done a phenomenal job, without them we wouldn't be here so it is all down to them."

Risks

Hamilton won last year's Japanese Grand Prix to take a 12-point lead into the final two races. However, mistakes made by both driver and the McLaren team saw him overhauled by Raikkonen.

And with that disappointment in mind, Hamilton re-iterated that, this time around, he will not take undue risks in order to secure the Championship.

"I am going out there to win the race, if I can, but I am not going to throw away points. We will do what we have done all year and try our best," he added.

"I just try to take every race as it comes, but compared to last year, I'm definitely thinking about the Championship and what I need to do to win it.

"It's obviously within my grasp, but we as a team have to put a really strong effort in to continue with the momentum that we have."