Hamilton pips Alonso to Japanese GP pole

The Ferraris will start third and fourth, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Felipe Massa.

With the fog that had forced the abandonment of third practice still an issue as qualifying approached, there were fears that the session might have to be delayed until later in the afternoon or even Sunday morning.

But in the event conditions were deemed acceptable and qualifying took place on schedule.

Massa narrowly beat Alonso to the fastest time in Q1, and the world champion was confident enough to spend the final minutes of the segment in the pits even though the conditions appeared to be improving fractionally.

His teammate Hamilton could not afford to be so relaxed, as he was pushed right down to 18th before vaulting to fourth with his last lap.

The points leader then proceeded to set the fastest time in Q2, beating Alonso by 0.053 seconds.

Alonso's early 1:25.539 lap while heavy with fuel in the final session stood as provisional pole until the last seconds, when the Spaniard improved to 1:25.438.

Raikkonen beat Alonso's initial sector times but was 0.078 seconds slower over the lap.

After making a late final stop for tyres, Hamilton was the last man to set a flying lap. Despite not looking like a pole contender earlier in Q3, he made a massive improvement on his last run and snatched pole from Alonso.

Nick Heidfeld took fifth for BMW, but his teammate Robert Kubica could only manage 10th on the grid, 0.7 seconds slower.

Although Williams' Nico Rosberg was sixth fastest, he will drop to 16th when his penalty for requiring a fresh Toyota V8 is applied.

That will move Jenson Button into the top six. The Briton lived up to his reputation as a wet weather specialist and kept the troubled Honda in the top ten throughout qualifying before clinching his best starting position of the year.

Mark Webber qualified eighth for Red Bull, five places ahead of teammate David Coulthard.

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel was arguably the star of the session. The German rookie excelled in the slippery conditions and got the team into Q3 for the first time in their history.

Having been as high as seventh in Q1, despite a quick spin early on, he ultimately qualified ninth, which will become eighth after Rosberg's penalty. Vettel eclipsed teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, who was 1.009 seconds slower in Q2 and remained in a more habitual 15th.

Renault struggled in the wet and only got as high as 11th and 12th thanks to last gasp improvements by Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen in Q2.

After nine consecutive top ten starts, Jarno Trulli equalled his worst qualifying of the season by putting his Toyota 14th.

His teammate Ralf Schumacher put in a lap sufficient to escape Q1 but then tangled with Sakon Yamamoto at the chicane when attempting another flying lap.

The Toyota hit the rear of the Spyker as Schumacher tried to pass down the inside, and was pitched into the air before landed with suspension and wing damage, ending his participation in qualifying and leaving the German 16th on the grid.

For the sixth time this season, Honda's Rubens Barrichello and Williams' Alex Wurz were eliminated in the first session. They will share row nine.

Although the wet conditions appeared to be conducive to some giant-killing performances from Formula One's smaller teams, the Super Aguri and Spyker drivers could not emulate Vettel and all failed to get past Q1.

Anthony Davidson and Adrian Sutil took 19th and 20th, while the two home drivers will share the final row of the grid - Takuma Sato ahead of Yamamoto and both a second slower than their respective teammates.