Canadian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton takes his second successive pole position for Team McLaren Mercedes, with his world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso in second.
It was another fantastic performance from Lewis, as Fernando was the fastest driver throughout the practice sessions leading up to qualifying.
But in the final moments in session three – the top ten shootout – Hamilton hooked up two perfect laps to seal pole position in the United States Grand Prix.
His lap time of one minute, 12.331 seconds was only a few tenths quicker over team-mate Alonso. Both drivers lock out the front row for the third consecutive time and it will be a fascinating contest between them for overall race victory.
Behind the two silver cars came the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen (third and fourth respectively). The red cars seem to be struggling and at one point, were behind the BMW-Saubers. It was a great recovery by the Italian team but extra performance is needed in order to get back on terms with McLaren.
Nick Heidfeld qualified his BMW-Sauber in P5, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen – who qualified his best-ever position for Renault. This follows on his recent result in Montreal in which Heikki finished fourth in an incident-packed race.
Making his Grand Prix debut is Sebastian Vettel, who is racing for BMW-Sauber this weekend as the team’s regular driver – Robert Kubica – was denied to take part by doctor orders. The 19-year-old German has done a remarkable job to qualify in seventh ahead of Jarno Trulli (Toyota), Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault).
Back to the man of the action Lewis Hamilton, who has admitted that he was surprised to be on pole position. The Formula One rookie is driving at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the very first time and yet, has managed to be beat his team-mate even though he wasn’t expect to!
“I’m quite surprised to be honest,” he said. “Going into qualifying we had not found the optimal set-up and I knew Fernando would be quick here, but it’s great to see the team are so quick and ahead of Ferrari.
“Going into it I had to pull it all out, and my two last laps in Q3 were spot on, and I just beat my last lap at the end. I couldn’t be happier, I didn’t expect pole as I thought Fernando would be quicker.”
Hamilton added that he was happier with his second pole than he was with the first one.
“I am ecstatic, didn’t expect to get pole. I am happy for the team. Getting my second pole is even better than last week, but when I came across the line and they said I had P1 I was screaming in the helmet for the whole lap, I was ecstatic.
“The crowd were fantastic, and across from the garage there is a flag with ‘Lewis on’ it, there is lots of support so I am happy.”
But will he on Sunday night? As world champion Fernando Alonso says he is full of confidence in the Grand Prix. The Spaniard may be nearly two tenths down on Lewis but he feels upbeat for the race ahead.
“It has been a good weekend for me no doubt,” said Alonso. “I was fastest in practice but not in the important one, Q3, but being fastest all weekend gives me confidence for tomorrow.
“There are many factors at play in Q3, so many things can happen tomorrow and I am full of confidence.”
He added: “I didn’t improve much in the second lap, I had quite good grip in the car and was quite happy with the laps. I think tomorrow we can do very well.”
So it will be another Hamilton versus Alonso showdown. Can the Spaniard resist the urge to pass his young team-mate in a desperate bid to take the lead at the first corner? Will Lewis score another race victory – making it a double in North America? What about Massa and Raikkonen can the Ferraris fight back? And just how fast will the BMW-Saubers be? If anything, the 2007 US Grand Prix should be a thrilling contest.
United States Grand Prix starting grid
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1:12.331
2. ALONSO McLaren 1:12.500
3. MASSA Ferrari 1:12.703
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:12.839
5. HEIDFELD BMW 1:12.847
6. KOVALAINEN Renault 1:13.308
7. VETTEL BMW 1:13.513
8. TRULLI Toyota 1:13.789
9. WEBBER Red Bull 1:13.871
10. FISICHELLA Renault 1:13.953
11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:12.873
12. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1:12.920
13. BUTTON Honda 1:12.998
14. ROSBERG Williams 1:13.060
15. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:13.201
16. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1:13.259
17. WURZ Williams 1:13.441
18. SATO Super Aguri 1:13.477
19. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1:13.484
20. SPEED Toro Rosso 1:13.712
21. SUTIL Spyker 1:14.122
22. ALBERS Spyker 1:14.597