Hamilton steered his Mercedes to a sizzling track record of one minute, 27.319 seconds — a remarkable 10th pole in 16 races this season.
Suzuka: Lewis Hamilton struck a huge psychological blow in the Formula One title race Saturday with a sizzling qualifying drive to take pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Briton, who leads Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by 34 points with five races left, steered his Mercedes to a sizzling track record of one minute, 27.319 seconds — a remarkable 10th pole in 16 races this season.
Valtteri Bottas clocked the second-best time, but Vettel will join Hamilton on the front row after the Finn incurred a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change to his Mercedes on Friday.
“The car is crazy here,” said Hamilton after his 71st career pole, and first at Suzuka.
“This track has always been one of the greatest and with this car it’s just mind-blowing,” added the triple world champion, looking to hit back in Japan after being stunned by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Malaysia last weekend.
“It’s just insane speeds that this car is throwing us around inside and the way you can throw the car around is like the craziest roller-coaster ride.
“It’s incredible, it’s been 10 years trying to get that pole position — 10th time lucky!”
A three-time winner of the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton fired a clear warning to Vettel, who realistically needs to win this weekend to revive his fading title hopes.
