Japanese outfit Honda endured a trying qualifying session ahead of their home grand prix in Fuji with both their drivers languishing on the penultimate row of the grid and Asian rivals Toyota firmly in the top ten.

Hamilton takes a step closer to championship glory with the “best pole of his life” in Japan.

Lewis Hamilton dug deep in Fuji to plant his McLaren-Mercedes on pole for Sunday’s decisive Japanese Grand Prix, while the best his main championship rival Felipe Massa could muster was fifth.

Lewis Hamilton’s campaign to become the first British world champion in over a decade got off to a solid start in Fuji after the McLaren driver showed strong underlying pace during practice ahead of Sunday’s decisive Japanese Grand Prix.

How collaboration between F1’s biggest rivals, faith in the wind tunnel, and a little bit of engineering nouse, saved the pinnacle of motorsport from this…

The mountain calls. Following the night race in Singapore Formula One now heads for the Japanese Alps to race at the foot of the sacred volcano of Mount Fuji.

The newly christened constructors’ championship leaders look ahead to what will be a crucial Japanese Grand Prix under Mount Fuji.

McLaren have vowed to adopt a more disciplined approach in the decisive remaining races in the world championship as memories of last year’s title meltdown are invoked.

Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima will remain at Williams for next year, the Grove-based outfit has confirmed.

Rosberg extended his contract with the team at the end of last year, but the announcement reaffirms Williams’ belief in the German’s ability to lead the team into what will be a new era of Formula One in the context of sweeping technical changes.

Ferrari’s pit lane debacle in Singapore provided rivals McLaren with the ideal ammunition on which to trumpet their new status as championship leaders – and Lewis Hamilton’s PR were quick to flag up his team’s flawlessness under the Marina Bay lights.

Lewis, after almost a week in Singapore, do you feel the team’s decision to keep you on European time paid off?
“Yeah, definitely. We felt pretty confident before the race that it was the right thing to do. And both Heikki and I have got such a good team around us – people like Aki and Adam and Olli – that we knew they’d make the right decision for us. At first, it felt a bit weird being wide awake so late at night; you’ve just got off an aeroplane, so you’re not really sure what time it is anyway, and your bodyclock is trying to tell you to sleep when it’s dark, but after a night or two it felt like the most natural thing to do, and it was the most sensible thing to be doing given the times we were driving.”