Hamilton takes pole position for Chinese GP; Alonso fourth

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-06 19:07

David Coulthard of Red Bull took fifth to be the best of the rest, ahead of Toyota's Ralf Schumacher, Red Bull's Mark Webber and the BMW pair Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

Ferrari and McLaren have won all 15 races so far with Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen each notching four victories.

Ferrari has won two of the previous three races here and the red cars could be the downfall of Alonso.

If Raikkonen and Massa were to finish first and second for Ferrari - and if Alonso and Hamilton follow third and fourth - there would be still be an unassailable 11-point gap Hamilton and Alonso after the race.

Raikkonen, with a slight chance to win the title, is third in the standings with 90 points while Massa has 80.

Late Friday Hamilton was cleared by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) after a hearing and review of an incident in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton was accused of accelerating and decelerating behind the safety car during a caution period on the 46th lap, spraying water from a wet track and causing Webber and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel to collide.

Vettel was originally given a 10-place starting grid penalty for this race for running into the back of Webber's car, but that was reduced because the stewards felt that conditions were "exceptionally bad."

      1   2     


Related Stories  
Top Sports News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours