01 November,2009 09:39 AM IST | | AFP
A delighted Lewis Hamilton claimed the 17th pole position of his career when he topped the times in a floodlit qualifying session for Sunday's inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old Englishman, in his McLaren Mercedes, continued the domination he has enjoyed for most of the weekend by clocking a best lap of one minute and 40.948 seconds, with a heavy fuel load, in the top ten shoot-out.
He then immediately made clear he is aiming to finish off an extraordinary season of topsy-turvy results with his 12th career victory.
"It is never easy, even you think so," said Hamilton, who claimed his fourth pole of the season. "But this was definitely as much fun for me as it looked and I believe the car, our car, is the best now it has been all year.
"It feels really great on this circuit and I am comfortable here. It is a pleasure to drive here and the organisers have done a really great job. And my lap was good, but it could have been better, but it was a smooth lap."
Hamilton wound up seven-tenths of a second faster than Sebastian Vettel, second ahead of Red Bull team-mate Australian Mark Webber.
Vettel said: "I think both Lewis and I were surprised at the gap between us."
