OMAYA, Japan — McLaren's Lewis Hamilton tightened his grip on the Formula One title today, claiming the pole position for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix.

The championship leader and winner here last year took his sixth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute, 18.404 seconds, and will start four grid positions ahead of his title rival, Felipe Massa of Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest, putting him on the front row for the first time since the French Grand Prix with a time 0.24 seconds slower than Hamilton.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Renault's Fernando Alonso finished third and fourth in qualifying at the Fuji Speedway.

"I couldn't say it was a perfect qualifying session," Hamilton said. "I'd say it was a step forward from Singapore. My first lap in third qualifying wasn't great but I managed to pull it together on the last lap.

"We're in a perfect position to step forward and make as many points as we can. It's going to be a tough race because Kimi is right there."

Massa's relatively slow time — 0.43 seconds off Hamilton — may hint at the Brazilian carrying a heavier fuel load for Sunday's race and therefore more flexibility in pit strategy.

In the second qualifying session, which is regarded as a more pure measure of relative speed because all cars carry light fuel loads, Massa was quickest with a time 0.175 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

"We knew qualifying would be very competitive and just wanted to put ourselves in a position to win the race," Hamilton said. "We had a very good pace here so hopefully tomorrow we can push forward with the traction we have and really challenge for the front."

Massa blamed his slower third session on grip problems rather than a heavier fuel load, and the site of his championship rival on the pole made the disappointment more apparent.

"I had a good tire in Q1 and Q2 but in Q3 I could not find grip," Massa said. "For sure I was not happy, not because he was on pole but I did not do a good lap."

Hamilton's starting advantage over Massa is lessened by the fact that Fuji has ample overtaking opportunities, leaving the Brazilian optimistic he is still in the title fight.

"Kimi being strong and maybe passing in front of Lewis is always a big help," Massa said. "Maybe today the result did not look great, but it does not mean tomorrow will be like that."

BMW's Robert Kubica was sixth fastest, ahead of the Toyota pair of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock.

Glock in particular had been impressive in both dry and wet practice sessions Friday and Saturday, and Toyota — whose parent company owns Fuji Speedway — may also be carrying heavier fuel loads.

The disappointment of Saturday's qualifying was BMW's Nick Heidfeld, who was eliminated in the opening session and will start 16th. The German won his place with the team for next season after stringent efforts to improve his qualifying performance, but he disappointed again in Japan.

Saturday's pre-qualifying practice was on a track made wet by morning rain, giving teams a chance to fine tune their wet setups if rain arrives for Sunday's race.