HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AP):McLaren's Lewis Hamilton edged Felipe Massa with his final lap yesterday to claim pole position for the German Grand Prix.
Hamilton went around in 1 minute, 15.666 seconds on his last flying lap to beat his Ferrari counterpart by 0.193 seconds and start first on the grid for the third time this season.
"I knew I had it in me, I knew we had the pace," said Hamilton after claiming his ninth pole in 27 races. "I'm really happy with it, I won't say there's anything I particularly have to improve on."
Hamilton dominated Friday's practice and is coming off a 68-second victory at the British GP, which gave him the advantage in a three-way tie at the top of Formula One's championship. Massa and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen also have 48 points.
Significant improvement
McLaren has shown significant improvement to its car since last month's French GP, with Heikki Kovalainen leading the second row for today's 67-lap race. The 26-year-old Finn recovered from an early driving error on his penultimate lap to post the third fastest time on his final chance.
Jarno Trulli of Toyota fills the second row from fourth, ahead of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in his Renault.
Massa was pleased to be back on the front row after a Silverstone performance marked by five spins and a 13th-place finish - last of the drivers who managed to complete the rain-hit race.
"Tough, for sure very tight," the Brazilian said of the difference between main rivals McLaren and Ferrari. "The race tomorrow will be a big competition between all four cars, and for sure that's very exciting, but we have to do everything right."
Defending world champion Raikkonen will start from sixth ahead of Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber. Kubica, who trails the leaders by two points, has struggled at Hockenheim all weekend.
"Sometimes you can have a bad day," Massa said of Raikkonen's performance. "Kimi maybe wasn't too happy with the car and these things can happen. He can be strong tomorrow in the race."
Conditions improved from Friday when rain fell over the track in the morning before drying up slightly in the afternoon. Still, Hamilton handled both sets of conditions with ease.
"I feel very chilled, I feel very happy with what we've done," the 23-year-old Briton said.
No McLaren driver has won at Hockenheim since Mika Hakkinen 10 years ago, while Ferrari has five victories in Germany since then, the last coming through Michael Schumacher in 2006.
