McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates after setting the fastest time in qualifying to take pole position for the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis yesterday. - Reuters

INDIANAPOLIS (AP):

LEWIS HAMILTON outran McLaren teammate Ricardo Alonso and Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen yesterday, capturing the No. 1 starting spot for the U.S. Grand Prix and his second consecutive pole.

"Getting my second pole is even better than last week," said Hamilton, the first black driver in Formula One history. "When the team told me I had P1, I again screamed in my helmet and just through the whole lap.

Ecstatic

"I was just extremely ecstatic," he said.

After Massa and Raikkonen took the top two spots briefly with about four minutes to go in the 15-minute final qualifying session, Alonso jumped to the top with a lap of one minute, 13.500 seconds on the 4.19-kilometre (2.605-mile), 13-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit.

Seconds later, Hamilton took the top spot at 1:13.385 and stayed out front to the end, posting a final lap of 1:13.331 to wrap up his second pole in only his seventh try.

The pole was unexpected since Alonso had been faster than Hamilton in two days of practice, but Hamilton, who keeps one-upping himself, said it was just hard work paying off.

My first time

"I was quite surprised (to win the pole), to be honest, mainly because it's my first time here," the young Englishman said. "I haven't really been performing as good as Fernando has. But, going into qualifying, just throughout the whole weekend I'm always trying to find that little bit more, little bit more. And each time I go out I improve and improve."

"Experience is everything here. The more I get out on the track, the faster I get."

That's bad news for both his teammate, whom he leads by eight points in the season standings, and Massa and Raikkonen, who hope to challenge the McLaren drivers today.

Alonso, who moved from Renault to McLaren over the winter, has raced here four times - with last year's fifth his best finish. But, even after losing the pole to Hamilton, the Spaniard remained upbeat heading into the race.

"Yeah, it's been a good weekend for me, no doubt. I was fastest in every session but not the important one," he said "But being fastest all weekend gives me a lot of confidence for tomorrow ... I think for tomorrow we can have a strong race and I'm totally confident."

Massa, second to then-teammate Schumacher last year, and Raikkonen, who took over Schumacher's vacated seat at Ferrari, will start right behind the McLarens in row two.