HOCKENHEIM (Germany), July 19: Lewis Hamilton stayed cool Saturday after clocking the fastest lap in qualifying to grab pole position for Sunday’s German Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old Briton thrilled his fans and the German supporters backing his McLaren Mercedes-Benz team by recording the best time in the final pole-position shootout session.

Hamilton was fastest in both the second and third sessions to prove his superiority on a circuit he enjoys and will be bidding to win two races in succession Sunday for the first time this season.

He currently shares the leadership of the drivers’ world championship with the Ferrari duo of defending champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Brazilian Felipe Massa.

His pole on Saturday was his third this season and the ninth of his career.

He wound up fastest in the final session with a best time of one minute and 15.666 seconds and will start the race ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa in a Ferrari on the front row.

Defending drivers world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland ended up in sixth place for Ferrari after another troubled session.

Hamilton’s Mclaren team-mate Kovalainen wound up third ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota, two times world champion Spaniard Fernando Alsono in a Renault and Raikkonen.

Pole Robert Kubica was seventh for BMW Sauber and Australian Mark Webber eighth for Red Bull.

The first mini-session in the qualifying hour saw the elimination of the two Force India cars driven by Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and German Adrian Sutil, Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello in his Honda, compatriot Nelson Piquet in a Renault and Japanese Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams.

In dry, but cloudy and changeable-looking conditions, the two Ferraris were fast, but in the second session it was their main rival Hamilton in his McLaren who set the pace ahead of Massa.

This session was packed with desperate late action and ended with the loss of German Timo Glock in a Toyota, Briton Jenson Button in his Honda, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, in a Toro Rosso, German Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber and German-born Nico Rosberg of Williams.

Qualifying results:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren one minute 15.666 seconds; 2. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:15.859; 3. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1:16.143; 4. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:16.191; 5. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:16.385; 6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:16.389; 7. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:16.521; 8. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull–Renault 1:17.014; 9. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso–Ferrari 1:17.244; 10. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull–Renault 1:17.503; 11. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:15.508; 12. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:15.581; 13. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams–Toyota 1:15.633; 14. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:15.701; 15. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso–Ferrari 1:15.858; 16. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams–Toyota 1:16.083; 17. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 1:16.189; 18. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:16.246; 19. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India–Ferrari 1:16.657; 20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India–Ferrari 1:16.963.

Starting grid: 1. Hamilton; 2. Massa; 3. Kovalainen; 4. Trulli; 5. Alonso; 6. Raikkonen; 7. Kubica; 8. Webber; 9. Vettel; 10. Coulthard; 11. Glock; 12. Heidfeld; 13. Rosberg; 14. Button; 15. Bourdais; 16. Nakajima; 17. Piquet; 18. Barrichello; 19. Sutil; 20. Fisichella.—Agencies